Mavericks regroup from 42-point beating, trim Nets 111-104

Entering Sunday afternoon’s game with a bloody nose after being beaten up Friday night in Philadelphia, the Dallas Mavericks knew they had to come out swinging against the Brooklyn Nets.

With J.J. Barea scoring nine straight points late in the game and Harrison Barnes adding the finishing touches, the Mavs held on to defeat the Nets 111-104 before 14,045 at the Barclays Center.

The Mavs ended a four-game road trip 2-2 and will take a 30-39 record back to Dallas to start a four-game homestand Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors.

With 13 games remaining in the regular season, the Mavs are three games behind Denver for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

To start feeling good about themselves again, the Mavs had to flush a 42-point beatdown at the hands of Philadelphia out of their system. They did that, building a 55-37 lead late in the second quarter Sunday before having to survive a fierce scare from the Nets at the end.

“I thought we came out with a lot more energy and focus, and just had a little more pep in our step from the beginning,” said Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds. “We took the lead early and that was big.

“We kind of played from behind the last couple of weeks and today we stepped out early, moved the ball, got some steals, had a little defensive presence about ourselves, and that set the good tone for us.”

The Mavs were scrambling at the end, however. Led by Brook Lopez’s 27 points, the Nets (13-56) inched to within 93-92 with 5:51 left in the game.

Wesley Matthews then split a pair of free throws before Barea caught fire and poured in nine consecutive points as the Mavs widened their lead to 103-96 with 2:16 remaining.

And when the Nets crawled back to within 103-101, Barnes delivered two nifty back-to-back baskets off spin moves, padding the Mavs’ lead to 107-101 with 26.5 seconds to go.

“That was a key part of the game,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Harrison Barnes had two big buckets at the end, which sealed the game.”

And sealed what had been a topsy-turvy trip for the Mavs that included a 22-point loss to Toronto, a surprising victory in Washington and the no-show performance in Philadelphia.

“Overall, we just played with a lot more force today, and you have to with Brooklyn, because these guys go really hard,” Carlisle said. “We needed to bounce back.

“The Philadelphia 76ers’ game was ugly — our guys knew we could do a lot better and compete a lot better. We made a stand today and it’s a team with not a great record, but they do go hard and it’s an NBA game.”

The Mavs shot 53.9 percent from the field, made 20-of-25 shots from 3-point land and committed just 10 turnovers, and led 15-4 less than five minutes into the game. The fact that they had very few catastrophic situations is why they were able to get out of town with a victory.

“Practice (on Saturday) was pretty intense and the film sessions, so yeah, (Carlisle) challenged us obviously, and we responded the right way early,” Nowitzki said. “The second half wasn’t great, especially in the third quarter, we let them back in it.

“But if we’re playing from in front and make the other team catch up, that’s a winning formula for us.”

Barea finished with 20 points and seven assists, and was 8 of 12 from the field in 27 minutes. Barnes added 19 points and six rebounds, Matthews collected 15 points and five rebounds, and Devin Harris added 11 points in 17 minutes.

“I think we had to put in all the effort tonight and go from there,” Barea said. “I think our energy was really bad in Philly, so we just let that one go and came out strong today.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2017 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Mavericks regroup from 42-point beating, trim Nets 111-104."