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The Mavs Were Up Seven With Less Than a Minute to Play and Still Found a Way to Lose

It has not been a fun year to be a Mavs fan.

Tyler Lauletta

Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard shoots the ball while Dallas Mavericks guard Max Christie defends.
Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard shoots the ball while Dallas Mavericks guard Max Christie defends. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
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Things continue to go from bad to worse for the Dallas Mavericks.

On Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers, the Mavs fell victim to their latest folly—blowing a seven-point lead with less than a minute to play to lose their fourth straight game.

The trouble began with the Mavericks holding a 128–121 lead over the Pacers as the clock dropped under 60 seconds to play. Four made Pacers free throws and a layup later, and that lead was cut to 129–127 with 36 seconds left.

Not a great start! But it only got worse. After the teams traded free throws, it was 130–128 with 26 seconds left and the Mavs inbounding. The Pacers pressed, came up with a steal, swung the ball all the way around the perimeter and lined up Andrew Nembhard for the go-ahead three.

He hit nothing but net.

The Pacers would only stretch their lead from there, eventually winning the game 135–131. Indiana capped off the game with a 14–3 run in the final minute. Woof.

For the Pacers, it was just another wild win in a stretch that has been full of them, with the team still riding high off of Tyrese Haliburton’s miracle shot against the Bucks last week.

For the Mavs, the loss was another painful moment in a season that has had plenty of them. Luka Doncic is gone. Anthony Davis is hurt, as is Kyrie Irving. Fans are calling for change.

Dallas has now lost four straight and nine of their last 10 games. They are still barely hanging on to the final spot in the play-in tournament in the West, but at this point, they certainly don’t look poised to keep it much longer.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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