MEMPHIS – It looked like the Mavericks had popped the top again on an intoxicating formula for winning games without their superstars.
They had the Memphis Grizzlies pinned in a corner and were primed to repeat the victory they got in Utah last month without Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
But the Grizzlies came out swinging late and got clutch performances from former TCU standout Desmond Bane and rookie David Roddy to pull out a 112-108 victory over the Mavericks at FedEx Forum.
The Mavericks rode the energy and enthusiasm of Josh Green and Jaden Hardy, an experience that will serve the young players well in the future, as they built an 88-77 lead early in the fourth quarter.
But costly mistakes at crunch time doomed the Mavericks.
“I feel like we gave ourselves a good chance to win a game,” said Hardy, the rookie who piled up 22 points. “A couple of bad turnovers by me down the stretch but I feel like overall we played hard and gave ourselves a chance without our two top dogs.”
With the score tied at 104 after Hardy’s cold-blooded three-pointer with two minutes left, the Mavericks ran into problems. Dillon Brooks made one of two free throws, but Hardy lost the ball off his leg on a drive. Then on the next possession he drove, but threw the ball out of bounds on the kick-out.
When Bane, who finished with a game-best 25 points, hit a three-pointer with a minute left, it was 108-104, Grizzlies. The Mavericks could not make up the ground in the final possessions.
“We had some turnovers and we just fouled a little bit too much there in the fourth,” coach Jason Kidd said.
The Mavericks had looked stellar in the third quarter early in the fourth as they had gotten juice from Tim Hardaway Jr. with 23 points and Green with 21.
“We came out in the third and were ready to play,” Green said. “We played hard and were moving the ball, playing really unselfish.
“And then going into the fourth quarter, it’s one of those situations where, us younger guys, it’s a good learning lesson, but at the same time we need to make sure we’re ready to go in the fourth and that we’re finishing the game and coming out with a win.”
It also gives those young guys a greater appreciation for what Irving and Dončić do on a regular basis.
“It’s really tough,” Hardy said, “to be like those guys, when they come in, and how (tough) it is out there.”
Said Green: “We got two of the best players in the world, you have to sacrifice some things. And I’m completely fine with that. It’s about how I can help the team work and make it work. It’s going to work. There’s no question about that.”
The Mavericks fell to 34-34 as they lost both ends of this broken-up road trip that began on Wednesday in New Orleans and allowed them to go to Dallas for a day in between games.
The Grizzlies (40-26) own the second-best home record in the NBA, but the Mavericks used a strong burst late in the third quarter to throw a major scare into them.
But Memphis got good mileage out of Roddy, who was the 23rd pick of the draft. His putback put the Grizzlies up 104-101, before Hardy’s three-pointer. Roddy finished with 24 points.
The only other time since the Mavericks acquired Irving that they didn’t have at least one of their stars was against Utah on Feb. 6, the day the trade became official and the day before Irving joined the team.
In that game, Hardy and Green each had 29 points and Dwight Powell had 16 rebounds. The Mavericks won 124-111.
That night gave the Mavericks a blueprint for how to play without their stars.
“It gives us something to lean on, understanding on the road and being able to play those guys,” Kidd said pregame.
But the Grizzlies were in a bit of a nasty mood, given that they didn’t have Ja Morant. And no matter what problems they’ve had of late, they remain a terrific team on their home floor, with or without Morant.
The Mavericks trailed most of the first half, but never by more than nine points as both teams were clearly missing some offensive punch.
What the Mavericks were doing well was rebounding on the offensive end. They got two retrievals late in the first half that led to a three-pointer by Davis Bertans.
That seemed to ignite them as they started the second half with an 8-3 push to get within 59-58.
The Mavericks had started rookie Jaden Hardy and Josh Green in place of Irving and Dončić.
Both supplied energy for the Mavericks. But there is no way to replace the productivity you lose with two All-Stars idle.
Hardy and Green did their best, though, and they pushed the Mavericks in front for the first time since the first quarter and they took an 83-77 lead into the fourth quarter.
Twitter: @ESefko
Share and comment