Unpredictable and alarming issue buries Dallas Mavericks in early-season hole

On Tuesday night, the Dallas Mavericks took on the red-hot Golden State Warriors in what was slated to be an emotional return to the Bay Area for Klay Thompson. While Thompson's return was the main point of attraction, Dallas needed a win to get their season back on track.

After losing the previous two games to the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns, the Mavericks were desperate to get back in the win column and avoid falling below .500. Against Golden State, the Mavericks knew they would need to improve shooting the three-ball if they wanted to avoid dropping to 5-6

Unfortunately, the Mavericks would lose 117-120 after a barrage of threes from Stephen Curry late in the fourth quarter.

Mavericks' late-game execution continues to be a major issue

In what was a back-and-forth battle that lasted all four quarters, the Mavericks once again choked late in the game after holding the lead throughout most of the fourth quarter against the Warriors.

At one point in the game, Dallas held a seven-point lead with under four minutes remaining in the game until Warriors guard De'Anthony Melton broke Golden State's scoring drought and opened up the scoring gates.

While this game was hard to watch late in the fourth quarter, this isn't anything new that the Mavericks have been going through this season.

In last week's contest vs the Phoenix Suns, Dallas choked away a multiple-point fourth-quarter lead, which then resulted in the team losing by one point on their home floor.

Following the Mavericks' late-quarter absence against the Suns, they entered Denver with similar sights to get their season back on track. Unfortunately, the team would lose similarly when they found themselves up with just a few minutes remaining in an important early season matchup.

The Mavericks would go on to lose by two points to the Nuggets after falling apart with seconds left in the game.

Against the Warriors, the Mavericks were hitting on all cylinders on both ends of the floor until Golden State began to make it rain from deep. Both Curry and Melton helped the Warriors take the lead with just a minute and a half in the game and the Mavericks were unable to scramble back a lead following that.

Defensively, the Mavericks have let up open shots after simple dribble penetration collapses the defense and causes the team to scramble. While it is still early in the season, the Mavericks' late-game defensive woes have already caused them multiple games this season.

On the offensive end, the team tends to go flat with minutes left as they rely on the creativity of their two superstars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. While it's wise to trust those two in late-game scenarios, the team's offense becomes predictable which causes these late-game lapses.

If Dallas wishes to flip its clutch time woes at any point this season, they will not only need to do it early but they will need to diversify their offense in clutch time scenarios.