Davis Returns Nets Lose To Dallas
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Shara Talia Taylor
Nic Claxton led the Brooklyn Nets with 19 points, but the team came up short as they lost 120-101 to the Dallas Mavericks Monday night at Barclays Center.
Claxton added three assists, seven rebounds, one blocked shot and two 3-pointers and Cam Johnson added 17 points and eight assists, but it wasn’t enough against the height, defense and shooters on the Mavericks. Brooklyn was out-rebounded, had turnovers and did not capitalize on Dallas’ mistakes, while they faced 22 points from Naji Marshall and 12 points from Anthony Davis in his return from injury.
“I think our offense didn’t help our defense and when you turn it over 19 times for 31 points, and we get 14 points out of their turnovers, if my math is correct is a 17-point difference,” said Brooklyn Head Coach Jordi Fernández about his biggest takeaways from the game. “We should have traded some of those turnovers for 3’s.”
Brooklyn was closely matched in shooting ability. They made 51.3% of their attempted field goals and Dallas made 56.3%. The Nets made 33.3% of their 3-pointers and Dallas only made 32.3% .
“I was open so I just shot it and it went in,” Claxton said about his two 3-pointers.
However, the Nets fell to the Mavericks who played more swiftly and aggressively not only forcing more turnovers, but grabbing more steals (10-7) and out-rebounding 41-37.
Dallas converted the first shot of the night and held the lead throughout the game. Brooklyn trailed 32-17 at the end of the first quarter, 62-48 at halftime and 96-77 at the end of the third quarter.
Even a recovering Davis, back from sitting out 18 games due to injury, was competitive giving Dallas their one blocked shot. Dallas Head Coach, Jason Kidd, who started his coaching career in Brooklyn, said in his pre-game interview that he did not anticipate playing Davis more than 28 minutes.
“I played against him a lot and he wasn’t being super physical and being in the paint,” Claxton said about defending against Davis. “He really was just hitting his mid. He was getting to his spots. He was kind of coasting it to me.”
The Nets were in 12th place in the NBA Eastern Conference following the game and played the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night. The loss put Brooklyn 2 games behind Toronto in the loss column.
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