Carlisle after ugly 39-point loss: ‘Got to do better’
Joe Harris uses a quick jab step to elude Luka Doncic and drills the smooth pull-up jumper. (0:28)
NEW YORK — The Dallas Mavericks have dropped their past two games by a combined 69 points, including a 39-point loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night. Monday’s defeat was the second largest in the 11-year tenure of head coach Rick Carlisle.
“It was ugly from start to finish,” Carlisle said after Dallas’ 127-88 loss to the Nets. “When you lose every quarter of an NBA game, you certainly haven’t done what you need to do. So, it’s a very disappointing night.”
The Mavs (27-36) fell by 30 points to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, and they have lost seven of their past eight games.
“We got blown out, we got our butts kicked,” Tim Hardaway Jr. said after the loss to Brooklyn. “We’ll go into practice [on Tuesday] with a different mindset and competitive fire and just try to maintain that for the rest of the season.”
The worst Mavs loss under Carlisle is by 42 points to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016-17 campaign.
“The effort can’t be good if you lose by this number of points,” Carlisle said after Monday’s game, in which the Mavs trailed by as many as 44. “We’ve just simply got to do better.”
With young stars Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, who is rehabbing from ACL surgery, the Mavericks are building for the future. Dallas could have nearly $30 million in cap space this summer.
While the future might be promising, Carlisle isn’t pleased with how his team is playing at the moment.
“We’ve got to fight our way out of it,” he said. “… This is a night where we needed to do a lot better.”
Dwight Powell led Dallas with 20 points against Brooklyn, and Doncic, who wasn’t available to the media after the game, had 16.
The Nets (33-33) snapped a three-game losing streak and moved into a tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. They were led by DeMarre Carroll (22 points) and Rodions Kurucs (19 points).
Their 39-point victory was the largest home victory for the organization since it moved to Brooklyn in 2012.
The crowd at Barclays Center was clamoring for Dirk Nowitzki to make a shot in the fourth quarter. After missing his first nine attempts, Nowitzki hit two late in the quarter in what might be his last game in Brooklyn.
“I am really appreciative,” said Nowitzki, who hasn’t yet made a decision about playing next season. “I enjoy it, but I enjoy winning a little better.”