Dallas Mavericks: Takeaways from disappointing loss to Pacers

The Dallas Mavericks lost their third straight game as they fell to the Indiana Pacers. Final score was 111-99.

After hoping to end their mid-season struggles against Indiana, the Dallas Mavericks continue to have problems with their third straight loss. With this loss, the Mavericks have now fallen to 20-25 with their fourth loss in six games.

While the Mavericks couldn’t manage to break their losing streak, Indiana was able to. Most of their points were led by sixth man Tyreke Evans, who dropped 19 on 63% shooting.

Victor Oladipo had a quiet game, after managing a decent 12 points on a terrible 26% shooting. Despite the former all-star’s struggles, the Pacers saw help from Collison and Sabonis, who dropped 16 points each, and led the game by as much as 19 points.

Let’s take a look at some main points from the Mavericks side of the game:

Luka’s problems and first career ejection

Luka wasn’t in his groove tonight. The rookie barely managed 8 points, five rebounds, and six assists in a dreadful 3-of-14 shooting from the field. This marked the first time Luka had been held to less than 10 points since December 10 against the Orlando Magic.

To make matters even worse, Luka was actually ejected late in the third quarter. He received his first technical foul for arguing with the referee over a call. His second technical was acquired after he kicked the ball into the stands during a timeout. It just didn’t seem to be his day.

Bench continues to struggle in Barea’s absence

In what might not be a coincidence, this was the third game of the season since J.J. Barea was injured against the Minnesota Timberwolves and declared out for the rest of the season. This is also the third game the Mavericks have lost since Barea was out.

The bench still cannot adjust in the sixth man’s absence. After the first half, the Mavericks’ bench only had eight points, all of which were contributed by Dwight Powell. They did step up a bit, with Dorian Finney-Smith finishing with 7 points and six rebounds while Jalen Brunson filled in for Luka Doncic, dropping 12 points and four assists, 9 of which were scored in the fourth quarter.

Hopefully we can see a win sometime soon for this Mavericks team who just aren’t doing the best in the new year.

DeAndre Jordan with another double-double game

One player who just won’t quit at the boards is DeAndre Jordan. Tonight saw Jordan grab 15 points and 16 rebounds on 77% shooting from the field. This was Jordan’s sixth game in 2019 with 10+ rebounds. The big man is averaging 10.9 points per game and 13.9 boards per game.

More notes from the game

–Dennis Smith Jr. missed another game with injury

– Wesley Matthews gets 9 points in the first quarter

– Daryl Macon makes second appearance of the season, grabs first career basket

– Ryan Broekhoff makes seventeenth appearance of the season

– Mavs road record now 4-19

The Mavericks continue their road trip by visiting Milwaukee on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 21. Get ready to see some good Kostas and Giannis Antetokounmpo playing time!