Dallas Mavericks vs. New York Knicks
Game 41 | Madison Square Garden | 12 January 2022
New York is suppose to be a city where dreams are made; however, that wasn’t the storybook ending for the Mavericks. Instead, the Mavericks walked away from the court listening to the famous “New York Victory” melody, by Frank Sinatra.
The momentum the Mavericks (No. 8 Seed in the West) had heading into New York was enough to put this matchup against the Knicks (No. 2nd Seed in the East) on the heavily desired ESPN Prime Time. Since the New Year, the Mavericks have had a “Cinderella start”, beating the Golden State Warriors (#1 in the West) and the Chicago Bulls (#1 in the East, best record in basketball) in the same week. But, we all know…. the clock has to strike midnight.
A heartbreaking ending to a rather heartbreaking performance. The Mavericks were on a six game winning streak, the longest winning streak in the last 11 seasons of the franchise. And six of the current Maverick players were previous Knicks: Reggie Bullock, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Frank Ntilikina, Theo Pinson and Kristaps Porzingis. What would look to be a recipe for a victory, fell short last night as the Knicks defeated the Mavericks, 108-85.
This loss could be attributed to the fact that the Mavericks are still following the lead of acting Head Coach, Sean Sweeney. Jason Kidd remains on the COVID-19 Health & Safety Protocol list, as well as Kristaps Porzingis, “The Unicorn” of the Mavericks.
You can certainly tell that Porzingis’ absences on the court when the team only shot 21.6% from three and 41% overall. The Knicks had a dominate performance with a 25 point gap and only allowing a lead change twice in the entire game. Not to mention the 12 turnovers that Mavericks had and making only 68.4% of free throws.
And though last night ended in defeat, one Maverick shared a special moment on and off the court. With Luka Doncic’s inconsistency to stay on the court, all eyes have been on Point Guard, Jalen Brunson for quite some time now. Brunson has seized the opportunity and demanded his name remain on the starting five even with Luka’s return. This is no surprise when you learn that Brunson was born with the NBA in his DNA. Last night, was a full circle moment for the Brunson family; as father, Rick Brunson, former New York Knick sat court-side to watch and cheer on his son, Jalen.
The Mavericks have a travel day to figure out what needs to improve before facing the hottest team in basketball right now, the Memphis Grizzles on Friday night.
