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When the Mavericks came visiting for a matchup in Brooklyn, the Nets had just dropped three in a row to the Heat, Hornets, and Wizards. However, for this one at home, the hosts put up a solid performance from tipoff to the final buzzer and handed the Mavericks a disheartening 127-88 blowout loss.
"This was definitely a game for us to build off of," guard D'Angelo Russell said. "Coming into this one, we knew we had to get it. We know we've got a tough stretch coming up so we need all the confidence we can get."
To put things into perspective, the 39-point victory is the Nets biggest margin of any victory at home since they moved to Brooklyn back in 2012. They improved to 33-33 (0.500) on the season with this win, still at the 7th spot on the East leaderboard and 16 games behind the Conference leaders in Bucks.
On the other hand, the Mavericks fell further below to a 27-36 (0.429) win-loss record, now down at the third-worst spot out West. They have now lost seven of their last ten games.
Let's take a look at some prominent talking points from this one-sided Mavericks-Nets encounter.
#1 Brooklyn man-handle the Mavericks as Doncic underwhelms
Dallas trailed in every quarter of the game, heading into the second half with an 18-point advantage. This was also the Nets' biggest halftime lead of the season, which they furthermore extended to 26 after the third period, another season-high.
"It was ugly from start to finish," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "When you lose every quarter in an NBA game, you certainly haven't done what you needed to do, so very disappointing night."
The Mavericks were limited to a miserable 35.6% shooting for the game as Doncic went 6-of-16 from the field, able to chip in just 16 points. Moreover, he missed three of his four FTs, putting up an under-20-point score for the first time in five games.
D'Angelo Russell finished with a double-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds and added a couple of steals on the defensive end. Nets starter Rodion Kurucs had a downtown party to himself as he finished with 19 points.
#2 The Nets had a field-day shooting from all parts of the court
As a unit, the Brooklyn Nets shot a blazing 56.5% from the floor whilst restricting the Mavericks to just 35.6%(31-87). Both teams took an almost equal number of shots from the field with the hosts converting at a higher rate.
Brooklyn shot 60% in the final quarter to seal the deal, coming off poor shooting nights in all their recent losses. Caris LeVert came up with a valiant 18-point effort in his 27 minutes on the court, shooting a 5-11 from the field inclusive of two 3-pointers.
"I think we wanted to change something up, do something different. Him coming off the bench or starting, he told me this morning, `I really don't care, Coach, as long as I get my minutes," Atkinson said of LeVert, who was the team's leading scorer when he got hurt. "He got his minutes."
The Nets shot 17-41(41.5%) from the distance as a team, restricting their opposition to below 30% in the same region.
#3 The Nets' reserves show up; Dirk is forever welcomed
The Brooklyn Nets bench stepped up in a big way, adding up for 68 points against the Dallas reserves who could combine for just 31. DeMarre Carroll came off the bench and dropped a team-high total of 22 points, shooting 5-7 from deep. Dinwiddie and LeVert combined for 34 points in a game where Coach Atkinson tried to experiment with the starting lineup and bench.
Dirk Nowitzki received a huge round of applause when he checked in for the final seconds in the third quarter. The fans at Barclays Center roared behind every shot of his and took the roof off when he hit a jumper in the dying minutes. Despite shooting 2-of-13 on the night and finishing with just 4 points, Nowitzki was never short of love in this road game.
"So I am really appreciative," he said. "I enjoy it, but I enjoy winning a little better."
