3 Takeaways from Brooklyn Nets Misfire vs Dallas Mavericks

It was the first non-competitive game in a while. With this team, let’s just be thankful we’ve made it this far without many more.

Tonight’s contest between the Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks was exactly as vibrant and colorful as it looked from a visuals perspective. In case you didn’t watch, both teams wore all grey, white, and black uniforms. They also played on a grey court. So yeah, it was nothing special.

After Dallas jumped up on Brooklyn 19-8 about halfway through the opening period, Brooklyn’s deficit floated around the 10-15 point margin almost all game. The Nets trailed by 19 going into the fourth and this time stayed behind until the end.

It was a rare night of bliss for one team whose fans have been in the torture chamber ever since February — and just a forgettable one for the others who’ve been in it since…forever?

I’ll leave it to the philosophers to decide whether potency or longevity carries more weight when it comes to fan pain. But the game itself? That’s all us. Here’s what we saw in tonight’s.

It’s a Make or Miss League at the End of the Day

Queuing up high-percentage shots is no easy task without a true point guard. D’Angelo Russell or even Dennis Schröder and Shake Milton have been Brooklyn’s knives as they’ve looked to cut through defenses this year. Today though, they only had forks to claw at it in Keon Johnson and Tyrese Martin.

But with the Mavericks missing key defenders at the point of attack, those utensils did more damage than you’d expect. Between their efforts and some creative screening likely drawn up by Jordi Fernández, the Nets carved out decent looks all things considered to begin the game.

That’s not to say the Nets weren’t without ugly possessions…especially in that first quarter.

However, Brooklyn didn’t get to their putrid 40/10 first quarter splits via 22 straight broken possessions tonight. On enough occasions for it to be noticeable, the Nets simply failed to cash in on the open looks they either established for themselves or the defense surrendered.

While Brooklyn managed to raise their splits to 51/33 by the end of the game, that was just like putting some icing over the rotten cake they served up to begin the game. It was Brooklyn’s poor shooting that put them so far behind in the first and they never mounted anything close to a comeback after.

It’s basketball’s oldest rule, or even cliche depending on how you phrase it, but it was relevant as ever tonight in big 2025. We can talk x’s and o’s until the cows come home — but wins and losses ultimately come down to makes and misses. Tonight, Brooklyn just had more of the latter.

Turnovers Are Also a Must

For a team just one tick away from a 50+ loss season, the Brooklyn Nets have been living lavishly in the turnover department of late. They forced 22 over the weekend vs the Pacers, a season-high for them, and have poked away the league’s seventh most in the month of March.

It’s hard to say that’s translated to winning, with the Nets also carrying a 2-10 record this month into tonight, but it has translated to near wins, which is all the team should be after anyway at this point.

But tonight, Brooklyn’s competitive seeds were denied the sunlight and water that usually allow them to sprout at the very least. Not counting the shot clock violation in the final second of the game, the Nets turned over the Mavs only nine times, clocking in as Brooklyn’s third fewest forced in a game this month.

Then on the other side of the coin, they gave it up 18 times leading to a whopping 31 extra points for Dallas.

“Our offense didn’t help our defense,” Fernández said. “…We should have traded some of those turnovers for threes. We didn’t. So that’s where our offense can help our defense. I think the guys tried, they kept fighting, and there were sparks here and there, but there was no consistency.”

Winning the turnover battle will be on any team’s shortlist of things to check off to win a game. But for this Nets team with limited offensive capabilities, it’s at the top, and tonight proved that too.

The Clax x Sharpe Dream May Still Be Alive

While the Dallas Mavericks may be short on front office intelligence, and with that, fan support right now, they had an abundance of length tonight with Anthony Davis back in the lineup. Whether it was Nico Harrison’s wayward obsession drawing attention on the block or scoring himself, Dallas dominated the Nets in the paint scoring 64 points while shooting 68% from the field.

The Nets were left with no choice but to go big. It took them until the second quarter to do so, but once they did, we got results. Well, at least more than any other point of the game offered.

Right after Sharpe checked in at the 7:47 mark of the second, Brooklyn went on a 6-2 run that applied a tad of pressure on Dallas.

Make of that what you will, but this lone bright stretch for Brooklyn started at the defensive end. The two bigs, each being relatively mobile at worst, allowed Brooklyn to switch freely with extra paint protection. Each was invited to challenge shots more aggressively knowing the other would be there to clean up the possession on the glass as well.

…Or sometimes just say “screw it,” both leap, and collectively add another skyscraper to the New York City skyline.

“Obviously, we have to match up defensively, but with a big lineup, I felt that that made sense,” Fernández said. “I definitely trust Day’Ron to be able to shoot. I know Nic made a couple late in the game, but we can still be spaced and spread the floor. More than happy to play them together…Having size always helps. That helps you rebound and having bodies in the paint helps to protect the rim, so that was good to see.”

In the wake of Day’Ron Sharpe’s resurgence off the bench this year, pitting Claxton and Sharpe against each other has been the more popular exercise among Nets Twitter personalities, but tonight showed us that’s not our only option.

With Brooklyn soon-to-be eliminated from postseason contention, expect them to get even more creative with their lineups in these final weeks of the season. It’s evaluation time. That could give way to even more Sharpe x Claxton minutes and by extension, lay the groundwork for something fun next year.