Sefko has an article on the Mavs problems in the 4th quarter.
Dallas was awful at winning tight contests last season (5-12 in games decided by four points or fewer) and hasn't been very good so far this season. The Mavericks' two wins have been by double digits. Carlisle stressed the importance of winning close games before the season started. He hasn't seen results yet.
In the fourth quarter, Dallas has been outscored by 37 points in its five losses.
Jan Hubbard also has an article on fourth quarters and wonders if the Mavs are getting tired late in games because of their age.
"I thought it was a case more that we exerted so much energy, we probably ran out of gas," Carlisle said after the game. "But there are no excuses."
In a league full of 20-somethings, can they play at a fast pace for 48 minutes and 82 games? We won’t know that for a while, but for the Mavericks, the next seven days could be revealing. If they get to Houston on Wednesday and they are running on empty, they might start to wonder if they should slow down.
I would argue that if Dallas really is getting worn down six games into the season then they are screwed no matter what pace they play at.
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Tim Cowlishaw a voice of reason? He looks at the Lakers game and sees that for parts of the game the potential of the Kidd trade was on display.
Kidd and Jason Terry had the Mavs running and gunning to a 60-54 halftime lead over what has clearly been the NBA's best team in the early season. The Los Angeles Lakers have played the best defense in the league, and only one of their first five victims reached 90 points.
Dallas was two-thirds of the way there at halftime.
Of course, the Mavs ended up losing and are 2-5, so blow it up right?
If you really think "blowing it up" is better than seeing what this team can get from Kidd before his contract expires, try to recall the 1990s when the Mavericks had a nine-year stretch in which their win totals were 28, 22, 11, 13, 36, 26, 24, 20 and 19.
Unless you want to relive the '90s, the only course is to plow ahead and hope this team learns to finish games when it plays with the energy it displayed Tuesday night.
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Josh Howard and Devean George made the trip to Chicago.
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Randy Galloway has already decided Rick Carlisle was the wrong hire. He doesn't say who he thinks the Mavs should have hired instead -- I think because he says the players suck and Cuban is stupid so it doesn't matter.
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JFE rips on Dirk.
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Mike Fisher has a quick Q&A with Bulls assistant Del Harris.