Dallas Mavericks: Two things to watch for against Brooklyn

The Dallas Mavericks take on the Brooklyn Nets tonight. The Nets have a similar record to the Mavs but are missing their star player. What are the things to watch out for tonight?

The Dallas Mavericks are coming off of a disappointing loss in that it ended a four-game winning streak, but not so much in that it came against a very strong Memphis Grizzlies team. That loss marked the first time all season the Mavs have scored under 100 points, something they will look to fix tonight against a reasonable Brooklyn Nets team.

The Nets are coming off a win last night against the Miami Heat. As noted by Bobby Karalla of Mavs.com, the Nets are not very fond of the midrange jump shot, which is where the Mavs need to be pushing them.

Here are two areas the Mavs need to be ready to dominate in tonight’s game.

The Three-point Battle

The Mavs have been inconsistent from the three-point line this year, sometimes showing that everyone is capable of hitting at a reasonable percentage, while other times struggling to get the ball through the net. The best three-point shooters for the team so far this year have been Dorian Finney-Smith (.450), Dennis Smith Jr. (.393), Wesley Matthews (.382) and Luka Doncic (.375).

The Nets, on the other hand, are led by Joe Harris (.502), D’Angelo Russell (.406), Shabazz Napier (.394) and Spencer Dinwiddie (.379). The Nets are averaging 34 three-point attempts per game while the Mavs are averaging 33.4. The Mavs are shooting .352 as a team and the Nets are shooting .360.

The point is, these two teams are pretty evenly matched when it comes to the three point line. As long as the Mavericks are mindful of where Joe Harris is at all times, they have a good shot of beating up on this team. The Mavs will need to hit their own threes as well.

Fixing Monday’s Misses

The Mavericks bright spots from the game against the Memphis Grizzlies were definitely the free throw shooting, the turnover numbers and DeAndre Jordan. DJ managed one of his best games of the season with 17 points and 20 rebounds against former Defensive Player of the Year, Marc Gasol.

Dallas struggled getting the ball through the hoop, however, which was the biggest issue of the game. Harrison Barnes, Luka Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr. have been shooting the ball fairly well over the past week, but on Monday they combined for a rough 15-59 (.254). That kind of shooting from the three top scorers is not going to cut it on any given night.

Missing Dwight Powell and J.J. Barea from the bench unit is definitely not an ideal situation, especially considering how good the bench has been for the team this year, but even still that was a game that could’ve been won by Dallas. Facing a team with not quite the defensive prowess that the Grizzlies have will help bring that back around.

The Mavs as a team also need to be crashing the glass better. Despite 20 boards from DeAndre Jordan, the Mavs still lost the rebounding battle to Memphis 45-43. Luka had 10 rebounds, meaning everyone else combined for 15 boards. Only one from Barnes is something that shouldn’t happen on any night.

The Dallas Mavericks will need to correct a few things ahead of this matchup with the Brooklyn Nets. The two teams will tip-off at 7:30 central time at the American Airlines Center. Dallas is still without Dirk Nowitzki and Wesley Matthews, while J.J. and Powell are still questionable for this evening.