Motivated Dallas Mavericks Beat Pacers at Home

Looking to bounce back from their embarrassing lost to the Sacramento Kings, the Dallas Mavericks came motivated as they beat the Pacers at home.

After losing by 31 points to the Kings on Wednesday night, Rick Carlisle and the coaching staff held a team meeting after the game to discuss their effort and poor performance.

Indiana was coming into the matchup looking to start a winning streak after beating the Suns by 15. Coming into the matchup at full strength, the Pacers were looking to ride their star in Paul George.

For Dallas, it’s the continued injury issues that still hinder the team. Missing Andrew Bogut, Dirk Nowitzki, and J.J. Barea, the Mavericks were short-handed once again. The Mavs did welcome Seth Curry back as he had missed the past four games.

The Game

Dallas rolled out Salah Mejri as the starting center to match up with Myles Turner. Wesley Matthews naturally started off the game guarding Paul George while George matched up with Barnes on the defensive end. Behind 13 first quarter points from Paul George, the Pacers took a two point lead into the second quarter.

The second quarter was the C.J. Miles show for Indiana as the reserve wing went 4-for-4 from behind the arc. Even though Indiana went 10-for-14 from behind the arc as a team in the first half, Dallas took a two point lead into halftime. Dallas was led by Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams as both players were in double digits at halftime.

The third quarter was for the Mavs as Dallas came out firing on all cylinders. Looking motivated by their last loss, the Mavericks rode the hot shooting hand of Wesley Matthews as they took an eight point lead into the forth quarter. Matthews finished the quarter with 23 points.

The fourth quarter was a frustrating one for the Indiana Pacers as the Mavericks continued their motivated play until the buzzer sounded. After a flagrant foul on Paul George with the Pacers down double digits, the Mavs pulled out the victory 111-103.

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*Justin Anderson seemed to be replaced in the rotation tonight by Nicolas Brussino as Anderson never checked into the game tonight.

Deciding Statistic

After having their effort and performance questioned on Wednesday, Dallas was determined from the opening tip to play a different ball game. This showed on the offensive side of the ball as they took care of the ball all night.

The Mavericks finished the game with nine turnovers.

Player of the Game

The player of the game could go to either of the Mavs two best players as both Barnes and Matthews had big nights.

But the award has to go to Wesley Matthews as Matthews was on it from the opening tip for the Mavs. Matthews finished the night with 26 points.

Harrison Barnes finished with 25 on the night.

For Indiana, Paul George finished with 22 points.

Next: Four Trade Spots for Andrew Bogut

Dallas hits the road to face the Houston Rockets tomorrow night in Houston.