NBA scores 2016: The Mavericks are humiliated in yet another big game test

Dallas can’t seem to beat the good teams, and San Antonio’s beatdown on Friday is just another example of it.

by Tim Cato

Feb 6, 2016, 2:00 PM UTC

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

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NBA Friday: Hawks hold on against Pacers, Spurs dust Mavericks in Dallas

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DALLAS -- Never in the history of the Dallas Mavericks had the team trailed by 36 points at the halftime of a game, not until Friday. That's when the San Antonio Spurs throttled them, allowing just 26 points through the opening 24 minutes to their I-35 archrivals to take a 62-26 lead into the intermission.

On national television, the Mavericks were roasted, burnt and then, for an entire second half of garbage time, cooked as a slow simmer that let everyone revel in the humiliation of an absolutely brutal loss. The Spurs are brutal and devastating, no doubt, dominating plenty of opponents this season, but Dallas is a fellow Western Conference playoff team. Performances like this shouldn’t happen.

"We played very poorly in the first half and they played great," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle explained bluntly. "We didn't come out with enough force. The majority of the blame should go on me for not getting these guys ready to go."

There's no doubt the Mavericks have drawn a tough deck with their schedule leading up to the All-Star break. They've played 19 games in the past 32 days without consecutive days off since Jan. 3-4. They've been on four different road trips, and immediately following this game, the team hopped back on the plane to go to Memphis, where they play the Grizzlies on Saturday in a pivotal matchup for playoff positioning. But the Mavericks haven't used that as an excuse for their current three-game losing streak, nor will they attempt to justify Friday's 116-90 loss on their home court.

"They kicked our ass," said Wesley Matthews, who managed just four points on Friday. "We played terrible. That was probably the most embarrassing game I've ever been a part of, at any level."

Matthews has been one of the major culprits to Dallas’ struggles. Given the Achilles tendon he ruptured last March, it’s incredible that he leads Dallas in minutes played. Still, he only averaged 11 points in January on 38-percent field goal shooting and 30 percent from behind the line, with his numbers in February falling even farther. Matthews won’t blame dead legs, but you can’t help but wonder if the sheer volume of an NBA schedule might be wearing on him. His defense has noticeably slipped, too, and the All-Star break might be exactly what he needs.

After recently emerging with a nine-game stretch that saw him averaging more than 20 points on 51-percent shooting, Chandler Parsons has disappeared almost as quickly. Parsons sat late against Miami on Wednesday, sparking minor drama in Dallas, and followed it up with just six points against the vicious Spurs defense. San Antonio was even missing Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili but suffocated the Mavericks without missing a beat.

Dallas is a team desperate for the All-Star break. They have a six-game homestand opening the second half of the season that should provide the team with easier matchups. With the Houston Rockets just a half game behind them now, it's very likely they'll have dropped to the seventh seed by them -- but some easier matchups allow room to catch back up. The Mavericks, to their credit, have beaten nearly every team they should beat this season, consistently earning wins against non-playoff opponents, even if it sometimes takes more work than it should.

As Friday's slaughter shows, though, Dallas isn't beating teams ahead of them. They were blown out by the Spurs in their last matchup, too. In 2016, they lost games to Golden State, Houston, Oklahoma City, Cleveland and twice to Miami. The best win came against the Bulls, but even that felt short-lived. The Mavericks insist they can beat these teams, that the talent disparity isn't this large. As Zaza Pachulia said afterwards, "I don't think it's right to judge a team with just one game."

But so far, it’s more than one game. It’s all the games Dallas has played against quality opponents -- some close, some blowouts, almost all losses. Even the All-Star break can’t solve that.

3 other things from Friday

Bradley wins it for the Boston Celtics

J.R. Smith had a great evening, but his blundering and-one foul on Evan Turner set this all up. The Cleveland Cavaliers seemingly had the game put away before that, but after the old-fashioned three-point play from Turner and a missed Cavaliers free throw, Avery Bradley went off and did this.

Good night from Cleveland.

The Hawks quell the swirling rumors with a great win

The hotbed of NBA trade season this year has been Atlanta, with Jeff Teague and Al Horford both appearing in rumors around the league. With the Hawks failing to recapture last year's brilliance, Atlanta has reportedly even considered a complete reboot of their roster. But for now, thanks to Friday's convincing win against the hard-charging Indiana Pacers, perhaps the team can take a step back for the moment.

Horford and Paul Millsap lead the way for the Hawks, of course, dropping 21 and 24 points respectively. Paul George did his best to bring Indiana back, but his 31 points on 11-of-21 shooting went for naught as the Hawks weathered the storm on Friday night. If this play seems at all sustainable, perhaps they'll make it through the trade deadline unscathed, too.

Sacramento is fed up with the Kings

Apparently losing to the Brooklyn Nets is rock bottom. It seems that way for the Sacramento Kings, at least. Their 128-119 loss to the Nets is their sixth in seven games, and in Sacramento, nobody is pleased with the team or, particularly, the head coach. On Friday, George Karl received some of his most pointed criticism yet from the locker room and from the television guys.

Bobby Jackson speaking the truth about George Karl pic.twitter.com/M1bIubOgcA
— Darth Vader (@WHOSDWAYNEJONES) February 6, 2016

DeMarcus Couisins after the game: 'Not going to keep blaming the guys in the locker room...we got a bigger issue'.
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) February 6, 2016

Just a couple weeks ago, Sacramento sneaked into the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Now they’re free falling and Karl appears to be on the hook for a lot of it. Where the Kings go from here is anyone’s guess.