Game 4: A Strong Comeback Falls Just Short, Dallas Loses 88-82

The Mavericks are ready to play game 4 in their Summer League in Cox Pavillion, Las Vegas. They will take the court against the 2-0 Washington Wizards, and the powerhouse rookie John Wall who is coming off of a double double and averaging 21 points and 9 assists in the Wizards opening 2 games.

Dallas(1-2) is coming off of their first victory against the Milwaukee Bucks in overtime in a performance where our young star Rodrigue Beaubois scored 18 points and hopeful Dominique Jones scored 9. J.D. Giddens also did his work in this game, scoring 16 points and snatching 4 rebounds for Dallas in the win.

Dallas opened the game with a poor display on defense. At the end of the first quarter Washington had an early 30-21 advantage. Martin led the scoring for Washington, and Dallas, who was struggling offensively, saw a poor start from Rodrigue Beaubois as he has yet to score a basket.

The second quarter showed some upside for Dallas. Washington slowed their scoring, much in thanks to improved defense from Dallas. Dallas outscored Washington 19-17 in the second quarter, and went into the half down 40-47. Rodrigue Beaubois has still not scored, only 0/2 from the field. Roddy has already picked up 5 fouls however. The upside for Dallas was the great first half for Dominique Jones, as Jones scored 14 points on 5/7 shooting.

The third quarter showed early signs of pulling way for the Wizards. A quick 10-2 pushed the lead to 57-42. 7 minutes through the 3rd the Wizards held their biggest lead at  64-48. Washington was winning due to a wopping performance by Cartier Martin who had dropped in 23 points. Also, they are beaten us with the intangibles. Washington was out rebounding Dallas 21-16 and is shooting an amazing 5/9 (55.6%) from 3 as opposed to Dallas's poor 0-4. Dallas had a quick surge to end the 3rd, but was still down. Going into the 4th Washington had outscored Dallas 21-17 and was holding a 68-57 lead.

The opening of the 4th was similar to the end of the 3rd. Dallas was scrapping to mount a comeback. At the 6 minute mark the lead was at 80-68 for Washington, after Dallas had the lead down to 7 earlier in the 4th. Though shooting 4/18, John Wall records his consecutive double double at 18 points and 10 assists. For Dallas Jones leads all scorers at 25, but as the minutes tick down the lead is staying in the 9-12 territory. The rebounding edge is stayed the Wizards way as they held their double digit lead into the late stages of the fourth. Dallas then started to show great signs of a comeback, as Yin upped his total to a nice 13 points. Jones was up to 28 points and a surge of strong play put Dallas within 4 with under a minute to play (84-80). Washington went on to close the game out in the clutch, but this showed some life from the Dallas youngsters. Dallas was able to fight it back, but in the end Washington walked away with a 88-82 win.

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A loss is a loss, but Dallas showed some positives. Yin was able to score 13 points, and he joined 4 other Mavericks in double digits. Jones was one of the positives for Dallas as he led all scorers with 28 points on 9/17 shooting. Another positive was the comeback Dallas almost completed, which displayed grit and determination for the youngsters. Dallas was also able to play great defense on some strong stretches, but overall the defense was less than satisfactory.

A major concern this game was the performance of Rodrique Beaubois. Roddy failed to even score this game, recording a 0/3 performance. Beaubois also committed 5 personal fouls and turned the basketball over 3 times. This Hour and 55 minute dogfight is one with a few upsides for Dallas, but with the loss, it's one i think we need to put behind us. The positives are there but you cant help but wonder if we could have won with a better performance from the Boys.