The Dallas Mavericks suffered another defeat on New Year's Eve, falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 106-101. Head coach Rick Carlisle isn't here to look for excuses.
The Mavs went into the matchup missing the services of two of their usual starters in Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr., who were both dealing with respective injuries. Nevertheless, despite his shorthanded roster, Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle refused to use their injuries and excuse for their recent string of losses.
“We’ve got a deep roster and we’re very capable of having guys step up and step forward,” Rick Carlisle said, via Dwain Price of Mavs.com. “We’re not going to be an excuse team –we’re just not going to go there. We just got to execute a little bit better at both ends.
“It’s a one possession game up to the very last part of the game. One more make and one more miss one way or the other and the thing is different, but that’s the NBA now. It’s a very thin margin for errors and you’ve got to be really good at both ends.”
It's hard to argue against Rick Carlisle here, as there's no denying that the Mavs currently have one of the deepest rosters in the entire league. On Tuesday, 6-foot-10 power forward Maxi Kleber stepped in for Porzingis, who was a late scratch due to a knee issue. Kleber was outstanding, posting a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double in the spot start, along with four 3-pointers and a couple of assists.
Second-year man Jalen Brunson got the nod to start in place of Hardaway, who is currently day-to-day due to a hamstring injury. Brunson was pretty quiet, though, but guys like Seth Curry and Delon Wright both got an uptick in their minutes off the bench.
That's now back-to-back losses for the Mavs and their third in the last five. Their next chance to bounce back will be on Thursday as they face off against the Brooklyn Nets. At the moment, there is some hope that they will be able to get back both Porzingis and Hardaway for that one. It'll make Rick Carlisle happy if that's the case.
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