NBA 2018-19: 3 Things we learned from Dallas Mavericks vs Brooklyn Nets

Final Score: Dallas Mavericks 119 - 113 Brooklyn Nets

The Dallas Mavericks took out a six points win at home against the Brooklyn Nets to improve their record to 8-9.

Led by a 28 point effort from star forward Harrison Barnes, along with 21 points and 9 rebounds from rookie Luka Doncic, the Nets couldn't find enough scoring power to overcome Dallas with leading scorer, Caris LeVert still sidelined through injury.

Allen Crabbe did his all, with 27 points in just his 5th game starting for the season, but it just was not enough as the likes of Doncic and Finney-Smith closed out the game at the free throw line.

Here we take a look at three points to take away from the game at the American Airlines Centre.

#1 Sixth man of the year contender - Spencer Dinwiddie

The 25-year-old point guard for the Brooklyn Nets had somewhat of a breakout year last season, leading the team in assists per game, while starting 58 games for the season, a 40 game boost from his career high.

This season, although he has come off the bench in all 19 games he has played for the Nets he has still managed to average 27.7 minutes per game, 14.9 points per game at near 46% field goal percentage all while keeping his assists average up at 4.8 per game.

Coming into this game Dallas coach Rick Carlisle suggested that Dinwiddie would be a strong candidate for the sixth man of the year award this season, and Dinwiddie then went out and showed the fans why. He went on to equal the game-high assists tally with 7 dimes while adding 19 points off the bench in 28 minutes played.

Kenny Atkinson made a statement on the professionalism of Dinwiddie saying "he's embraced his bench role, he's never complained about not starting."

The Brooklyn Nets have started the season one spot out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference with an eight-win, 11 loss record. The Nets will hope Spencer Dinwiddie can continue his great form off the bench to lift them over the Minnesota Timberwolves after Thanksgiving to improve their record and help them reach a much-awaited return to the playoff picture.

#2 Dallas have a great bench presence

On the topic of great performances off the bench, the Dallas Mavericks have continuously shown this season that when all players are fit, they have excellent depth with a multitude of veterans ready to take the court when the starters need a break.

Although the rather young, guard pairing off Luka Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr looks very promising, with the former potentially leading the current race for the rookie of the year award, the veteran presence in the Dallas team is stronger than ever. J.J Barea is leading the assists category for the Mavericks and once again had a game-high 7 assists coming off the bench.

Veteran guards J.J Barea and Devin Harris both played a huge part in this one with 18 points each. Harris, in just his sixth game back after missing ten with a hamstring injury, scored eight points in a row to make a tie ballgame into one that the Mavericks couldn't lose at the start of the 4th quarter. With Dirk Nowitzki still to come back from an injury, the Mavericks potentially have one of the deepest benches in the league.

#3 Harrison Barnes is getting back to his best

After a fairly average start to this season, which was following an injury-ravaged 2017/18 outing, Harrison Barnes finally looks like he is back to hitting his stride in the NBA.

A season-high 28 points against the Brooklyn Nets, reminded all of us that Barnes is an extremely underrated talent that can take over a game in a moments notice. Barnes was five from eight from beyond the arc and has been increasing his output in each game over the past week and a half.

While only averaging 16 points this season so far, down from his previous two seasons of 18 and 19 points per game, Barnes has hit over 20 points rather frequently in the past week and looks to be more confident in his shot than ever.

If Barnes can continue to play at a high level, along with Doncic and Jordan, the Dallas Mavericks could very well be making their return to the playoffs in what could be Dirk Nowitzki's last season in the NBA.