It had been so long, 21 days, since the Mavericks last played in Dallas, that during lineup intros Feb. 5 trade acquisitions Khris Middleton and Marvin Bagley III got “Welcome to Dallas!” salutations from P.A. announcer Sean Heath.
Then, despite facing the NBA-worst Sacramento Kings, the Mavericks fell behind 56-38. Welcome home, Mavericks.
Multiple furious rallies later, Dallas succumbed, 130-121, Thursday night in American Airlines Center to a Sacramento team that had lost 17 of its previous 18 games.
Naji Marshall’s career-first 30-point double-double – 36 points, 10 rebounds and six assists – wasn’t enough to complete the comeback, nor was 55% Dallas shooting.
“Wasn’t that difficult,” Marshall said of overcoming the slow start. “Just locked in and played basketball the way we know how.”
Trailing 110-93 with 6:51 left in the game, the Mavericks went on a 12-0 in 1:59 to pull within five points. Dallas got as close as 123-121 on a Brandon Williams 3-point play with 1:56 left, but could get no closer.
“Turnovers. Missed shots. Didn’t take care of the ball,” is how Mavericks coach Jason Kidd characterized the closing stretch.
The Mavericks played without Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, but the already injury ravaged Kings added Keegan Murray to their sidelined list before tipoff.
The Mavericks were coming off a brutal six-game, 11-day road trip that concluded with them being frozen out of being able to fly to Brooklyn until hours before a 123-114 victory.
That win was preceded by a four-point victory at Indiana, so the Mavericks were “riding” their first win streak in 35 days entering Thursday.
Granted, Indiana and Brooklyn have the NBA’s second- and third-worst records (a combined 30-88) but road-wearing Dallas certainly owed no apologies for that.
And with Sacramento lugging into Dallas an NBA-worst 13-47 record and fresh off a 31-point Wednesday loss at Houston, the Mavericks seemingly had a great opportunity to extend their win streak.
Then Sacramento reeled off 42 first-quarter points and the Mavericks spent the rest of the night playing catch-up. Their only lead of the night, 5-4, occurred in the first two minutes.
Unfortunately for Dallas, this return to AAC won’t last long. The Mavericks face Memphis on Friday and Oklahoma City on Sunday – three games in four days – before departing to play six straight road games and eight of their next nine.
“It’s the schedule,” Kidd said. “We had a homestand (five games) to start the season.
“So it catches up to you . . . So it is what it is. We’ve got to play, understanding it’s next man up. That’s the mentality. We’ve been there before.”
The Mavericks rang in the Lunar New Year with a nightlong celebration – granted, nine days into the 15-day Lunar New Year itself – but, hey, they hadn’t been home in three weeks.
In a few days, they’ll be back on the road – for another long stretch.
“No matter how many days or no matter how many games, or where we’re at for how long, you’ve got a job to do each and every game, no matter what,” Marshall said.
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