Dirk Nowitzki opened up the second quarter by draining a corner 3-pointer, the 1,800th of his career. He’s the 14th player in NBA history to reach that milestone, and by far the tallest.
Speaking of 3-pointers, Wesley Matthews hit a lot of them in this game. Matthews drained six treys, his 10th game with at least as many for the Mavericks. That’s second-most in franchise history (George McCloud, 15). Matthews also dished out eight assists, which ties for his most in a game since joining the Mavs.
The Mavs have now won 10 of their last 11 games against the Bucks, including three straight.
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That seemed to get Smith going. For two straight possessions to close the third quarter, Smith was electric on defense, blocking one shot and then stealing the ball the next time down.
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There’s no way around it: Losing is tough. Carlisle has said he’s made a big point to stay positive himself and to try to keep his players staying positive, but at times it can be tough to do that, especially for the younger guys who haven’t yet had a taste of winning — or, really, even an 82-game season. Some nights you won’t have a jumper or you might have a tough assignment (Eric Bledsoe ain’t easy to score on) but, as Mark Cuban says, the one thing in life you can control is effort. This isn’t to say Smith wasn’t trying in other games, but those two plays he made at the end of the third quarter are all effort. If he can make a few of those every night, that’s absolutely going to help his team win games. It was nice to see him respond to a tough situation in a positive way.
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…Or soaring in from out of nowhere to chase down and block the Greek Freak.
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Love that guy’s energy.
The Mavs (3-14) will play the Boston Celtics (15-2) on Monday at American Airlines Center at 7:30 p.m. Central.
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