MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Late in the first half, as Memphis poured it on and the Mavericks seemed helpless to prevent it, a reality crystallized that would have seemed preposterous before the season.
Dallas truly is one of the worst teams in the NBA.
The Mavericks’ record indicated that even before Friday night, prior to this Memphis Grizzlies’ 118-104 victory in FedExForum that was more grisly to watch in person than the final score indicated.
Tied for last in the West entering the night, Dallas (2-7) now is in solo-last after dropping its fourth straight game. And guess what? The bottom might well keep dropping out Saturday night when the Mavericks play at worst-in-the-East Washington (1-8).
Mavericks
The same Wizards whose only victory occurred on Oct. 24 in Dallas – by 10 points.
“It just happens that we’re struggling early,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, alluding to his team’s ongoing offensive woes, but in reality describing things in general. “Sometimes it happens in the middle of the season. Sometimes it happens at the end. So we’ve just gotta keep fighting.”
The Mavericks showed second-half fight Friday, cutting into a Memphis lead that swelled to as much as 97-62 with 4:40 left in the third quarter to 115-102 with 2:31 left.
Not that the Grizzlies were ever in danger of losing. It’s hard to believe this was the same Memphis team that brought in a four-game losing streak, or the same Ja Morant (21 points, 13 assists) who just four days earlier declared that he’d lost his joy.
Well, he found it Friday. If you didn’t know better, you’d wonder if he was auditioning to become a Maverick.
This defeat dropped the Mavericks to an 0-1 start in the West Group B Emirates Cup standings, but that’s the least of Dallas’ concerns right now.
“We were all communicating at halftime, like, ‘What can we do?’ ” said Max Christie, who continued his strong offensive play with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. “No one’s coming to save us.
“This isn’t even on the coaches. This is the players. Like the coaches are doing everything they can. They’re giving us the answers to the test with the scouting reports. … And us as players, we’re not executing at all.”
Said Kidd: “It’s on everybody. It’s the coaches. We have to be better. We can always say the players can be better, but we all have to be better.”
Back to Kidd’s comment about the timing of struggles. The problem with early-season woes is the real danger of digging yourself into a deep hole, leaving an arduous climb just to return to surface level.
Yes, the Mavericks sorely miss starting power forward Anthony Davis and starting center Dereck Lively II, who on Friday missed their fourth and fifth games, respectively, but their returns guarantee nothing at this point.
“Really I’m just kind of holding the fort down for all the bigs right now, until everybody gets back,” center Daniel Gafford said.
Gafford, though, has been on a minutes restriction since returning from a sprained right ankle. And on Friday he apparently tweaked the same ankle, leaving with soreness after just 12 minutes of court time in which he was a minus-26, finishing with zero points and one rebound.
And it’s not like the rest of the Mavericks did much to stop this Grizzlies siege on what’s left of the Dallas fort.
“It’s kind of like deja vu,” Gafford said of the interior injuries. “We were in the same situation last year.”
Returning to play in Memphis, where he was a collegiate standout in 2020-21, two-way center Moussa Cisse contributed 10 points and eight rebounds in just 14 minutes.
The Mavericks entered the night near the bottom of the 30-team NBA in numerous categories: Last in average points (106.3) and offensive rating (103.2); 26th in field goal percentage (44.0); 28th in 3-point percentage (31.5) and 29th in rebound percentage.
Conversely, they were No. 5 in defensive rating. Take away their 125-92 season-opening trouncing at San Antonio’s hands and they would be a top-three defensive team.
“It’s just that our shooting is horrendous,” Kidd said. “We can’t make shots on a consistent basis. We’re getting great looks. But also … that is showing our defense is keeping us in the game, and so we have to keep fighting. Keep taking those shots. Keep practicing.
“Keep working through this struggle.”
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