Mavs Must Show Urgency Against Hornets Amid Tight NBA Play-In Race

The Dallas Mavericks came out flat on Friday when they gave up 69 first-half points to the Charlotte Hornets. How will they respond on Sunday?

CHARLOTTE — Before the Dallas Mavericks produced an uninspired start to Friday's loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the team had what was supposed to be an important pre-game conversation. The topic in focus was on what the team wants to compete for, whether it's for the playoffs or for a championship, but they came out flat.

The Mavs allowed a rebuilding Hornets team to put up 37 points in the first quarter, and ultimately 69 total points in the opening half. It was about as uninspiring of a performance as one can remember from Dallas, especially when considering the stakes of the game.  

"I think just understanding the talk before the game of what we’re playing for – playoffs or championship – and to come out in that first half, but more-or-less that first quarter, and give up 37 [points]," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "The interest level just wasn’t high. It was just … disappointing."

The Mavs used a halftime conversation to manufacture a greater effort to close the game. They had even rallied back to trail by only one after being down as many as 21, but ultimately, they proved unable to control the momentum of the game long enough to achieve the victory. 

"I thought again, at halftime, we talked about it," Kidd said. "I thought we put ourselves in a better position, but in the second half, you’ve got to be flawless. Every possession means something."

"When you give up that many points in that first quarter and the first half, it’s tough no matter who you’re playing," Kidd explained. "We talked about it. You’ve got to respect your opponent, and tonight, we just didn’t do that.”

It was a tough shooting night for Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who had combined to go 3-17 from beyond the arc. Kidd felt as though the difference in the game was the Mavs failed to convert on their high quality looks, while the Hornets were capitalizing on their opportunities. 

"You look at our two guys [Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving], I think they were 3-for-17 from three. Got great looks, just didn’t go down – and that kind of has been the season for us in that sense. Getting great looks, they’re just not going down. Our opponent, they’re getting good looks and they’re making them. I understand that we’ve got eight games left, so we’re still in control of this, but our effort has to be a little bit better from the start.”

Given the clear lack of self-motivation, it begs the question: what can be done to motivate a group? Kidd explained that options are limited with NBA players, but minutes and field goal attempts seem to be among the tools at his disposal. 

“Minutes and field goal attempts." Kidd said. "You got a very short leash of ideas and tricks to be able to self-motivate people. You’ve got to be honest with them. 

An important takeaway the Mavs made from their second half rallying effort was the success they experienced when deploying smaller lineups and using the speed to switch everything. Dallas has often started two bigs together, but without Maxi Kleber providing his usual versatility after returning from injury, the formula isn't clicking. 

"I thought our defense and our intent defensively helped us get back into that game when we just started switching everything," Kidd said. "Then, being able to rebound the ball helped us there too."

The Mavs may look to utilize smaller lineups and switching in Sunday's matchup against the Hornets. Neither team had a clean opportunity to get practice time in due to the early tipoff and change of venue. Regardless, the game film is there for Dallas to reference.

Regardless of approach, when the Mavs face off against the Hornets on Sunday, will they make up for the clear early lack of urgency from Friday's start? The answer may tell more about the current mental makeup of this team than any other game this season, to this point. 

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