Jenkins would trade points for some wins

CLEVELAND – Guard John Jenkins has led the Dallas Mavericks in scoring in all five of their preseason games.

But he’d trade it all in a heartbeat for some wins.

Jenkins tallied a game-high 26 points Monday night against Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena. But the results were eerily familiar as the Cavs nudged out a 103-97 victory while dropping the Mavs to 0-6.

Afterwards, Jenkins didn’t really want to discuss the points he scored. He mostly wanted to point out the game-high seven turnovers he had, which didn’t exactly help the Mavs’ cause.

"I want to win so bad,’’ said Jenkins, who also had six rebounds. "I’m disappointed in myself how I didn’t lead the team in the fourth.

"I feel like I could have done a way better job of getting guys involved and getting us in some type of flow in the fourth quarter. We kept it close, but I feel like it was my fault. I had some bonehead turnovers in the game and was just not being decisive, and I can’t do that.’’

The Mavs had numerous chances to keep the Cavs (1-6) winless. That includes Jenkins pointing the finger at himself when he missed a wide-open 3-pointer with 17.9 ticks to go and Cleveland up 99-97.

"That was a perfect look,’’ said Jenkins, who made 14-of-16 free throws. "It actually slipped out of my hand when I shot it.

"We had other chances to win the game. Like I said, I’ve just got to do a better job of leading the team down the stretch. We’re right there every game, it seems like.’’

With Jenkins scoring 11 points, the Mavs led 52-45 at the half. But he believes that was partly because of Dirk Nowitzki, who played 17 of his 23 minutes in the first half.

"That’s what happens when Dirk plays, especially extended minutes,’’ Jenkins said. "In practice every time we run the court together when he plays it’s just so much more open space.

"Guys don’t want to leave him, and we make plays off of him and get him in transition threes and it just opens up everything else.’’

Dwain Price can be heard every Wednesday from 3-5 p.m. om dfwiradio.com.

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Jenkins would trade points for some wins."