Mavericks AM News: Dallas Falls Hard In Memphis

79. Final. 110. 211. 96

The Dallas Mavericks were feeling great during a six-game winning streak earlier this month, but now they’ve dropped two-in-a-row, most recently a 14-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Dallas Mavericks fell by three points to Oklahoma City on Sunday night in a ballgame that head coach Rick Carlisle seemed to be proud of, even if the Thunder played without star forward Kevin Durant.

On Tuesday night, the Mavericks continued their Western Conference road trip against the Memphis Grizzlies, and they were pretty much outclassed from the beginning.

The Grizzlies opened the game with three chances under the rim and came away with nothing before Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki opened the scoring with a gorgeous jumper to put Dallas up 2-0. This game didn’t get much closer than that for the visitors as Memphis seemed to pull away despite missing countless opportunities both in the paint and at the free throw line. A four-point Grizzlies lead after one period seemed to expand throughout the evening until time finally ran out and the Mavericks had lost 110-96.

Dallas is now 9-6 while their division rivals from Tennessee have now popped up over .500 with a record of 8-7.

More from Sports Dallas Fort-Worth

A total of 19 Mavericks turnovers were pretty much the story. Memphis also held Dallas to just 39-percent shooting on the night.

Memphis had a total of seven players scoring in double digits, so it wasn’t just the Mavericks’ struggles on offense that sank this one.

This stretch was going to be a grueling one for the Mavericks, who now play the tail end of a back-to-back at San Antonio against the division-leading Spurs – nice Thanksgiving Day present from the NBA scheduling department, I’m sure.

The Spurs, just a year and a half removed from their last NBA title, currently sit at the top of the Southwest Division with a record of 11-3.

Carlisle sums up the Mavericks current situation with these thoughts captured by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

"We didn’t get it done. We did a poor job of ball protection in the first half and dug ourselves too big of a hole. We’re playing better opponents the last couple games, and we’re having poor starts. Our disposition needs to be stronger and our shot-making needs to be better and our ball protection has to pick up. We got to do better, and we will."

Small forward Chandler Parsons, who scored just six points against the Grizzlies in 25 minutes, added the following concerning the mindset that he, and his Mavericks teammates, need to have looking forward.

"This is probably the toughest road trip you can draw up. It doesn’t get much more difficult than that. We got a chance to salvage the road trip, but it’s another good team and we got to come ready to play."

Ready or not, Dallas is staring at the very real possibility of falling back to just two games above .500, unless they can pick up arguably their biggest win of the year against a San Antonio team that just never seems to fall off the map of contention in the NBA.

Wednesday night’s tip off is set for 7:30pm CT at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

Mavericks News From Around The Internet

Balanced Grizzlies Send Mavs To Second Straight Loss (Sports Illustrated via AP)

Whether it was the poor shooting, too many turnovers, or simply the fact that Dallas was over-matched, here’s the complete breakdown of Tuesday night’s mess at FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Next: Why FC Dallas Can Turn It Around On Sunday

Scouting Mavs and Spurs – Dallas At Big Disadvantage? (Dallas Morning News – Eddie Sefko)

Things don’t look particularly encouraging heading into this contest. The Spurs have yet lose at home this year and the Mavericks have lost nine-regular season games in a row at AT&T Center – and there’s several other issues facing Dallas in this game.

Published on 11/25/2015 at 13:01 PM
Last updated at 11/25/2015 at 12:52 PM

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