‘Lessons Learned’: Mavs Avoid Slippage vs. Pistons After Prior Letdowns

The Dallas Mavericks recently lost two games to losing teams but made it a point to bring it against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.

The Dallas Mavericks entered Tuesday's 116-86 win over the Detroit Pistons on a two-game win-streak. However, they had consecutive letdowns against losing teams - the Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder - a few games ago.

There was slippage from the Mavericks in those letdown losses - something they previously had not experienced throughout most of January when they went 12-4 with the fourth-best net rating in the NBA.

There was a clear emphasis from the Mavericks coaching staff and players alike to not allow another letdown to take place against one the NBA's least successful teams in the Pistons. 

“We learned from our past experiences and what we can control, and our energy and our effort tonight was high,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “No matter who we play, that’s the way we have to come out.

“We can’t just play (hard against) the good teams. We have to respect everyone and execute the game plan and take care of business so guys won’t have to play that many minutes in the fourth quarter.”

The Mavericks set the tone early by scoring 36 points in the first quarter - creating a 10-point advantage after the first quarter. The momentum continued throughout the opening half. 

Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson made it a point to lead the Mavericks past the Pistons by getting their work done early. Doncic totaled 20 points, five rebounds, and seven assists in the first half while Brunson had 15 points and three dimes.  

“I think it was definitely kind of talked about with us saying that you’ve got to respect these guys no matter what,” Jalen Brunson said. “They’re NBA players coached by NBA coaches.

“You’ve got to go out there and just play our style of basketball for 48 minutes and play as hard as we got. We started out a little lackadaisical … we kind of slipped up defensively a little bit, but we eventually found our groove again.”

At one point, the Mavericks managed to build their lead to as large as 37 points. Among the benefits, Doncic only logged three minutes in the fourth quarter while Brunson did not even have to see the floor. 

The Dallas Mavericks, who are now a season-high nine games over .500 for the first time since 2015, return to action on Thursday when they host the LA Clippers in the start of a two-game mini-series.