DALLAS – Rick Carlisle glanced at the final stat sheet from Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Dallas Mavericks coach was absolutely floored.
There it was. In big numbers.
The Bucks scored an amazing 80 points in the paint. That was more than enough as Milwaukee showed why it is the best team in the NBA as it rolled to a 122-107 victory over the Mavs before a sellout crowd of 20,420 at American Airlines Center.
Afterwards, Carlisle bemoaned the fact that the Bucks got almost whatever they wanted inside the paint.
“We just did not put up enough resistance and they’re a great team,” Carlisle said. “When you give up 80 points in the paint, which by the way if that’s not an NBA record, I can’t imagine a game where someone scored more than 80 points in the paint — but maybe they did.
“They’re extremely well coached, (Giannis) Antetokounmpo is a great player, but 80 points in the paint is ridiculous. It’s just ridiculous.”
The loss dropped the Mavs to 25-29 headed into Sunday’s 2 p.m. game at home against Portland, while Milwaukee improved to 41-13.
Antetokounmpo did most of the damage inside the paint for the Bucks as he collected 29 pints, 17 rebounds and five assists. That includes a dazzling assortment of dunks.
“They drove and scored,” Mavs guard Devin Harris said. “Some of it, I don’t know if you can’t stop it.
“Obviously, Giannis is very good at getting in the paint. Sometimes it’s harder to stop him one-on-one, but they do a great job of surrounding him with shooters so you can’t really help, and a lot of times it leaves our guys out there one-on-one. Obviously, he’s hard to stop that way.”
In the loss, the Mavs dodged more bad news when the x-rays on Luka Doncic’s sore left hand came back negative. Doncic finished with a team-high 20 points, Trey Burke had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dwight Powell tallied 12 points apiece, and Maxi Kleber added 11 points.
The Mavs tied their franchise record set against New Orleans on Dec. 29, 2017 by making 22 baskets from 3-point land. But that didn’t move the needle as far as Carlisle is concerned.
“I’m not that interested in whatever that is a team record,” Carlisle said. “I’m interested in our level of resistance.
“We’ve got to be better, we’ve got to be better.”
The Mavs were better in the first quarter. After going 0-of-5 from the field and falling behind 8-0, Dallas rallied and ended the first quarter all knotted up with the Bucks at 29 apiece.
But with Brook Lopez (20 points), Eric Bledsoe (18 points), Malcolm Brogdon (18 points) and Antetokounmpo either drilling 3-pointers or driving to the basket, the Mavs couldn’t keep up the pace.
“He’s an amazing player,” Doncic said of Antetokounmpo. “His length is amazing. Now he can shoot 3s, so there’s not much you can do.
“He’s one of the two best players in the league.”
Still, Carlisle believes the Mavs could have done more to slow down the Bucks.
“I’ve got to get these guys better prepared, that’s all,” Carlisle said. “It’s my responsibility. I just know we can do better than this. We’re small, so we’ve got to go harder.
“We’ve got to be more resourceful, we’ve got to be more persistent. That’s going to have to be our calling card with this group.”
Milwaukee built its lead to as high as 23 points –83-60 – with 7:08 remaining in the third quarter. The Mavs rallied and chopped the deficit down to 104-97 with 8:14 left in the game following a layup by Doncic.
But Lopez banked in a 3-pointer and scored on a jumper, Bledsoe drained a 3-pointer, and Antetokoumnpo slammed home a dunk and the Bucks’ lead increased to 114-98 with 5:24 left in the game.
“Obviously, we just collectively didn’t play well enough to do anything with the lead,” Harris said. “Obviously, they came back, hit some tough shots, some threes, but all night long they kind of lived in our paint.
“We didn’t put up enough resistance.”
Burke did mange to show what he could offer the Mavs after joining the team following last week’s blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks. Burke played 27 minutes and was 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the 3-point line.
“I was pretty comfortable,” Burke said. “Coach just told me to be aggressive. I think it started when he started getting stops.
“When we got stops we got out in transition and got some easy buckets. First and foremost we got to get stops, and I don’t think we got enough tonight.”
Carlisle like the way the Mavs were resourceful during Wednesday’s 99-93 win over Charlotte. But that performance didn’t happen against the Bucks.
“We were trapping (Charlotte guard Kemba) Walker all over the floor, rotating,: Carlisle said. “It was something to see. We’re capable and again, they’re a great team.
“They get the ball in the paint, that’s what they do. But I know we can be better.”
And Carlisle inside the Mavs – who were outrebounded 51-37 – will do better.
“In this league you’ve got to be able to guard penetration at least with a level of force and will,” Carlisle said. “We just didn’t do it.
“Look, give them plenty of credit. They’re tough. They’ve got good players, they’ve got good drivers. But 80 points (in the paint) is just too many.”
NOTES: Kostas Antetokounmpo was slated to be active for Friday’s game, but he became ill. Antetokounmpo’s brother, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is the All-Star forward for the Milwaukee Bucks. . .Mavs proprietor Mark Cuban has a part in the movie, What Men Want, which was first in theaters on Friday. The movie features Taraji P. Henson, Kristen Ledlow, Richard Roundtree, Tracy Morgan, Erykah Badu, Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill and Karl-Anthony Towns. . .Luka Doncic made his first comments since the Mavs waived center Salah Mejri on Wednesday. Doncic and Merji used to play on the same Real Madrid team in Europe. Their American Airlines Center lockers were also right next to each other. Doncic said: “I probably wouldn’t be the player I am if he wasn’t here to help me get through my first season.”
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