Takeaways, Player Grades in Dallas Mavericks Loss to Heat

1.) Nowitzki held his own against Whiteside in the middle

With Dallas turning to Nowitzki as the starting center over Andrew Bogut, there are obviously pros and cons that come with that. We know the obvious pros, but it’s the cons of defense and rebounding that Nowitzki would naturally have against some talented big men in the league.

Whiteside would presumably be one of those big men but Dirk held his ground in the paint with the youngster, even holding Whiteside to only three rebounds at half time and only eight in the game.

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2.) Balanced scoring continues for Dallas

During this prior three game winning streak, Dallas has had at least five players in double figure scoring in each of the three games.

Even though Dallas lost, the same thing continued in Miami as Matthews, Barnes, Nowitzki, Barea, and Curry all had double figures in scoring.

3.) Guarding point guards remains a problem

Guarding some of the top half point guards in the league has been a problem and it remained a problem on Thursday night with Goran Dragic as he seemed to get into the paint at will and hit some clutch shots in the fourth.

Dragic finished the night 32 points on 11/15 shooting.

Next: Player Grades