Dallas Mavericks

Takeaways, Player Grades in Dallas Mavericks Loss to Heat

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:57 p.m. ET

Fansided, Isaac Harris/FanSided via The Smoking Cuban

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The Dallas Mavericks went to Miami trying to extend their winning streak, but left with another loss on the season.

Heading to Miami on the first night of a back-to-back, Dallas looked to extend their three game winning streak before coming back home on Friday night.

Dallas played their last game on Tuesday night in Chicago where they won a nail biter with the Bulls after a clutch three pointer by Wesley Matthews and a late stop on the defensive end.

For the Heat, they are coming off arguably their biggest win of the season after beating the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night by six. Sitting with a 12-30 record, Miami has one of the worst records in the Eastern Conference.

*Dallas was without Andrew Bogut once again due to a hamstring injury and will be without him on Friday night against the Jazz also.

The Game

Starting from the tip of the game, the battle between Hassan Whiteside and Dirk Nowitzki at center was front and center. Whiteside had the upper hand in the paint, but also had to guard Nowitzki on the perimeter. Miami found a groove early and took a 29-21 lead into the second quarter.

The second quarter was where Dallas threw their punch. Not only did they take control of the game, but they scored a total of 31 points in the quarter. Behind Nowitzki, Matthews, and Barnes being in double figures, Dallas took a 53-44 lead into half time.

*We also saw four first half minutes from Justin Anderson as he finally got some playing time.

Much like a boxing match, the third quarter was Miami’s turn to throw their punch. After starting the quarter down by double digits, Miami went on an 11-0 run that was capped off by a Luke Babbitt three that gave Miami the lead. But Dallas fought back at the end of the quarter behind J.J. Barea and held a three-point lead going into the third quarter.

Miami opened the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run that gave them a seven point lead with nine minutes to go. After a back-and-forth affair and a late push by Dallas, Miami held the lead and won the game.

1.) Nowitzki held his own against Whiteside in the middle

With Dallas turning to Nowitzki as the starting center over Andrew Bogut, there are obviously pros and cons that come with that. We know the obvious pros, but it’s the cons of defense and rebounding that Nowitzki would naturally have against some talented big men in the league.

Whiteside would presumably be one of those big men but Dirk held his ground in the paint with the youngster, even holding Whiteside to only three rebounds at half time and only eight in the game.

2.) Balanced scoring continues for Dallas

During this prior three game winning streak, Dallas has had at least five players in double figure scoring in each of the three games.

Even though Dallas lost, the same thing continued in Miami as Matthews, Barnes, Nowitzki, Barea, and Curry all had double figures in scoring.

3.) Guarding point guards remains a problem

Guarding some of the top half point guards in the league has been a problem and it remained a problem on Thursday night with Goran Dragic as he seemed to get into the paint at will and hit some clutch shots in the fourth.

Dragic finished the night 32 points on 11/15 shooting.

Mavs Player of the Game

Wesley Matthews

SG, Dallas Mavericks

B+Matthews logged another 37 minutes tonight but would probably be the Mavericks player of the game despite Nowitzki outscoring him by one point. Matthews finished the night with 18 points on 7/14 shooting from the field and 4/9 shooting from behind the arc. When Matthews is hitting his outside shot, he is one of the best 3-and-D players in the game.

Wildcard

J.J. Barea

PG, Dallas Mavericks

BBarea came off the bench with Devin Harris and gave the Mavericks a much needed spark. His ability to play off the ball as a point guard is huge as him and Harris are interchangeable in the back court. Barea came in and gave the Mavs 13 points on 50% shooting from behind the arc and from the field.

Need a little more…

Deron Williams

PG, Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks have a quick turnaround as they head home tomorrow night to face a tough Utah Jazz team.