Dallas, TX — The Brooklyn Nets were looking to extend their back-to-back wins on the road when they walked out on to the American Airlines Center court. With Wes Matthews, Dirk Nowitzki, and Dwight Powell out, the Mavs had to use some interesting bench combinations to take on the Nets fast offensive shooting.
But, despite missing key players, Dallas came out on top, 119-113.
Harrison Barnes came out rolling as he led the charge with 18 points by halftime. Considering he is still adjusting to this new offense after being previously injured at the beginning of the season, it’s impressive that nine of those 18 points came from beautifully shot threes from all around the court.
The rest of the Mavs offense shot 52.4% compared to Brooklyn’s 41.3%. This was largely reflected in the Mavs collective effort to balance their jump shots with drives to the paint through DeAndre Jordan, Salah Mejri, and J.J Barea.
At intermission, Dallas maintained an 11-point lead, 61-50.
But, instead of the usual half-time variety entertainment show, the city honored one of the Mavs players. A man and demigod known as Dirk Nowitzki was honored with a key to the city of Dallas. Prior to his halftime ceremony, Nowitzki reminisced on why Dallas as a city holds a special place in his heart.
“A kid came here that was skinny and didn’t really know much about life and only lived at home. Like I said earlier, grew into a man here. Off the court, try to help out, try to help this great city be better. Try to represent the city the right way.”
As an added bonus to tonight’s festivities, Nowitzki also added that he hopes to return back to the court in December. He proclaimed himself to be ‘antsy’ by just waiting to return to competing.
With the heartwarming moment passed, the two teams returned to action in the third ready to battle for the win.
Once the third stanza began, the momentum the Mavs had seemingly diminished as the Nets found some offensive rhythm. Spencer Dinwiddie scored nine points and D’Angelo Russell made a crucial three-pointer that helped give him seven points for the quarter.
Despite Brooklyn closing the gap and only facing a four-point deficit heading into the fourth, 85-81, they began to make careless fouls. Brooklyn’s fouls allowed the Mavs to keep its advantage, especially Devin Harris who capitalized with aggressive drives to the paint and finished 8-for-10 from the charity stripe.
After four lead changes in the fourth quarter though, the Dallas Mavs held off the Nets with a final score of 119-113. Barnes finished with a game-high 28-points, including five triples. Luka Doncic finished the night with 21 points followed by Jordan and Harris with 12 and 18 points, respectively.
The Mavericks will take two days off before hosting the Boston Celtics on Saturday. The Brooklyn Nets will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thanksgiving.
