In the month that passed between their last two wins, the Dallas Mavericks tweaked their roster by dealing Anthony Davis and lost Cooper Flagg to a foot injury, but still finished games with the same frustrating result until Sunday night.
After ending a 10-game losing streak, the Mavericks hope to get more contributions from some of their new acquisitions and earn another win Tuesday night when they visit the Brooklyn Nets, a day after a major blizzard blanketed the New York area, delaying arrivals for both teams.
The Mavericks are attempting to get consecutive wins for the first time since averaging nearly 130 points per game in a four-game winning streak Jan. 15-22. The skid immediately followed, starting with a 116-110 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Dallas finally ended its slide by shooting 54.3% in Sunday’s 134-130 win over the Indiana Pacers, halting a five-game road losing streak. The Mavericks topped 130 points for the eighth time this season and shot at least 50% for the first time since beating the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 22.
Khris Middleton led Dallas with a season-high 25 points in his fourth game since being acquired from the Washington Wizards in the Davis trade. P.J. Washington added 23 on 8-of-14 shooting after making 18 of 46 shots in his previous four games.
“The ball movement and execution — the guys were really good,” coach Jason Kidd said after the Mavericks dished out 29 assists. “The energy and effort were high, and we found a way to win.”
The Mavericks played their third straight game without Flagg, who injured his left foot during a 120-111 loss at Phoenix. The standout rookie will be sidelined again for Tuesday’s game.
Dallas earned a 113-105 home win over Brooklyn on Jan. 12 when Flagg scored 27 and the Mavericks hit 15 3s. The Mavericks are 11-2 in the past 13 meetings, and the Nets are returning home on a four-game skid after a late collapse led to a 115-104 loss against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday afternoon.
Brooklyn led 102-91 after Terance Mann made a 3-pointer but then allowed a 24-2 run over the last 8:01. The Nets finished the game by missing 14 of their final 15 shots and turning the ball over five times during the collapse.
“Not good enough. Got to find a better way to close games,” Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez said. “I trust the starters. I know how good they are, and this is not what I want from them. We played a great game until 5:30 to go, and then it goes away. So, it’s tough because wins in the NBA matter. You have to play to compete and win, and it didn’t happen.”
All five Brooklyn starters reached double figures but rookies Nolan Traore and Egor Demin along with Michael Porter Jr., Noah Clowney and Nic Claxton combined for three points on 1-for-13 from the floor, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range, over the final 12 minutes.
The Nets had an extra day in Atlanta to review what went wrong against the Hawks because of the blizzard in New York, which will prevent them from departing until Tuesday morning.
