Carlisle tossed as Mavericks embarrassed in San Antonio
That gap between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs just got a whole lot wider — Grand Canyon wider.
After losing to the Spurs by a mere five points in November, the Mavs were cautiously hoping for a better result Sunday night at the AT&T Center. Instead, the Spurs stepped on the Mavs’ throats and wouldn’t let up until they walked away with a thorough 112-83 victory.
It was a game in which the Mavs (23-19) probably won’t even bother watching film, such was the horror.
San Antonio goes hard, and they can make you look bad. We got beat bad. That’s the name of that tune.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle
“San Antonio goes hard, and they can make you look bad,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “We got beat bad. That’s the name of that tune.”
It was a tune so off-key that Carlisle didn’t bother to stick around for the ending. Referee Sean Corbin whistled the coach for a technical foul with 11:17 remaining in the game, and after Carlisle came on the court and clapped sarcastically in Corbin’s direction, Corbin tagged him with another technical and the accompanying ejection.
Offensively, I don’t think we could ever establish a rhythm good enough to make a push. But like I said, you’ve got to give them credit.
Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki
“Offensively, I don’t think we could ever establish a rhythm good enough to make a push,” said Dirk Nowitzki, who was 2 of 10 from the field for just four points. “But like I said, you’ve got to give them credit.
“They’re the best defensive team in the league, I think, field-goal percentage. They’re long and they’re smart, and they never really let us get going.”
After a ghastly first quarter that ended with Dallas ahead 16-14, the Mavs played as if they were stuck in the twilight zone.
It was the worst beating of the season for the Mavs. They shot a season-low 35.8 percent from the field and didn’t look like they belonged on the same court with the Spurs, who improved to 36-6 overall and 24-0 at home.
The Mavs missed 17 of 23 shots from beyond the arc and were outrebounded 51-45 by their arch-rivals, who have now won 33 straight home games dating to a loss to Cleveland on March 12.
The Mavs were outscored 32-20 in the second quarter and 32-20 in the third quarter. The Spurs led 78-56 after three and by as many as 31 points (112-81) with 20.7 seconds left.
We had a very poor second quarter, and the third wasn’t much better. Disappointing night, and we’ve got to play better.
Rick Carlisle
“We had a very poor second quarter, and the third wasn’t much better,” Carlisle said. “Disappointing night, and we’ve got to play better.
“I thought the frustration tonight is there were some mistakes, but everybody’s trying to do the right thing. In terms of the effort, I’ve got to look at the film.”
Dwight Powell (15 points) and Wesley Matthews (12 points) were the only Dallas players who scored in double digits.
“I have to watch [the film], but my guess at this point is that it’s going to be a combination of everything,” Carlisle said. “We’ve just got to play better.”
Carlisle took the blame for the poor shooting by Nowitzki.
“It’s my job — I’ve got to get Dirk better looks,” he said. “We’ve got to run some better stuff. We’ve got to put him in some better positions. I was disappointed with that and I take the blame for that.”
There was plenty of blame to go around Sunday night as the Mavs started the second half of the season in horrible fashion — finishing this road trip with a 1-2 record
“The second quarter, we had some mistakes that really took the air out of our game, and we had a chance to recover and we didn’t,” Carlisle said. “They’re a great team, so they made it hard, and there are things we’ve got to do better.
“We don’t have much time to lick our wounds. We’ve got to play a hot team [Monday against the Celtics] who’s rested and waiting for us.”
Dwain Price: 817-390-7760, @dwainprice
This story was originally published January 17, 2016 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Carlisle tossed as Mavericks embarrassed in San Antonio."