Mavericks 129, Knicks 114: “Going about my evening doing other things.”

Awful shooting and sleepy D sink New York in Dallas.

The table was set. The Dallas Mavericks (11-8), missing Luka Dončić, Klay Thompson, and Daniel Gafford, were hosting the Knicks (10-8), who were fresh off a 145-point explosion in Denver. Expectations were high for New York to detonate another offensive bomb.

Offensive, it was.

In their fourth-straight road game, New York stunk in the first quarter (15 points) and stunk again in the second. They trailed 60-38 at halftime after shooting a dismal 26% from the floor and 13% from deep. They improved slightly in the third quarter, but trading baskets doesn’t rescue one from a 20-point hole. The final frame saw Dallas cruise while the Knicks sweated out almost every bucket. Despite efforts by Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, New York never got closer than 12 points, falling 129-114.

Brunson tied his season-high with 37 points, seven assists, and two steals on 14-of-21 shooting. Towns added a 25-point, 14-rebound double-double, while Mikal Bridges chipped in 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Josh Hart contributed 12 points and four steals but grabbed an uncharacteristic two rebounds. OG Anunoby, coming off a career-high 40 points, crashed back to earth, finishing with eight points on 3-of-15 shooting, including 0-of-8 from deep.

Dallas outshot New York 57% to 47% overall and 52% to 24% from three. They also controlled the boards (43-33), assists (27-20), and blocks (5-3). Naji Marshall, filling in for Thompson, shined with a career-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Kyrie Irving added 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, while OAKAAK Quentin Grimes enjoyed himself, playing tough defense and scoring 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

First Half

The Knicks were playing on roller skates. Both teams combined to shoot 11-of-31, including 1-of-11 from deep, during eight minutes of ugly basketball. It took the Knicks over ten minutes to convert just four buckets, falling behind by as many as 16. A Dončić-less Dallas tightened up, with all five starters scoring, while New York laid enough bricks to build a schoolhouse. An 8-0 run fueled by free throws saved some face, cutting New York’s deficit to 28-15 by the first curtain.

New York missed all eight of their three-point attempts and hit just 4-of-21 from the floor. Dallas’ defense was sharp, with Dereck Lively II nabbing two steals from the sloppy Knicks.

The misery continued into the second quarter. New York was outscored 10-5 to fall behind by 18, and the deficit ballooned to 24 by the midway point. When OG Anunoby clanged an alley-oop off the front rim, it was clear this wasn’t New York’s night. Late in the quarter, the Knicks briefly clenched their defense to trim the gap to 17, but atrocious shooting sealed their fate. By halftime, they were buried in a 60-38 hole.

Here’s Kyrie tiptoeing through four Knicks.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 16 points and three steals, while Dallas’ Naji Marshall dropped 14 first-half points. Quentin Grimes played full-body defense and added eight points and four rebounds.

The Mavs had outshot the Knicks 54% to 26% from the floor and 50% to 12% (2-of-16) from deep; they’d out-rebounded the visitors 27-20, out-assisted them 12-5, out-points-in-the-painted them 28-16, and out-fast-breaked them 12-5. All things considered, to be down by only 22 wasn’t bad given their putrid performance.

Second Half

Fueled by back-to-back threes from Karl-Anthony Towns, the Knicks opened the third quarter on a 9-5 run. Jalen Brunson sparked momentum with a drawn charge and an And-1 drive, leading a 7-0 burst that trimmed the deficit to 13. Towns chipped in with 12 points in the quarter, but Jason Kidd’s disciplined Mavericks contested every possession and exploited the Knicks’ defensive lapses. Despite outscoring Dallas by three, New York trailed 90-71 heading into the fourth.

In the final frame, the Knicks fell behind by 23 again. Miles McBride made all three freebies after a behind-the-arc foul by Spence Dinwiddie. KAT scored on a difficult drive, then OG did the same (finally), and Josh Hart scored on a steal. The deficit was 14 with six minutes left, and the lineup on the floor was Brunson, Cam Payne, Josh Hart, Anunoby, and Towns. They surrendered yet another easy three, this time from the corner by PJ Washington, and found themselves down by 18 with time dwindling. Time and again, the Knicks fought for every point while the Cowboys easily passed out of trouble to find a shot.

Back-to-back buckets by Brunson cut it to 12, but Dallas answered with a running alley-oop, a block on a KAT drive, and yet another uncontested drive. With 1:30 left, New York didn’t have a 16-0 run in them. Ball game.

Notes

• The Mavericks are 47-40 all-time against the Knicks (26-18 at home, 21-22 on the road).
• The Knicks tallied 45 assists on Monday but managed a mere 20 tonight.
• The Mavs held the Knicks to 15 first-quarter points, their lowest allowed in a quarter this season.
• OG Anunoby scored a career-high 40 points in Denver on Monday. Tonight, he missed his first 11 shot attempts. (He wasn’t alone; Dillon Brooks finished 0-for-11 in the Rockets/Sixers game.)
• Mavs assistant coach God Shammgod, a New York native, attended La Salle Academy in Manhattan, where he was a teammate of future NBA player and former Knick Metta World Peace.
• Jalen Brunson drew his fifth charge of the season, tying him for sixth in the league.
• Thibs gonna Thibs. He left the starting five in to finish the game.

Up Next

Quoth BronxBorn1969: “Looked at score. Came here to say ‘wtf?’ Going about my evening doing other things.” Lucky you, some of us had to watch the whole fiasco. The five-game road trip concludes in Charlotte on Friday at noon. Happy Thanksgiving, Knickerbockers.

Box Score