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The Dallas Mavericks were met Sunday afternoon by a game Charlotte Bobcats squad, armed with a near NBA-quality starting lineup of Jeffrey Taylor, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Cody Zeller and Bismack Biyombo.
Early on, it looked as though Charlotte would simply crush Dallas. Ahead 50-25, the Mavericks looked completely inept, allowing easy baskets at one end and failing to connect at the other. It took nearly 20 minutes for Dallas to record their second team assist.
Dallas faced a 50-28 deficit at halftime, with no player in double-figures and likely a bad taste in their mouth. Led by the irrepressible Jae Crowder, the Vegas Mavs would manage to scratch their way back into the game, at least somewhat.
A Crowder three and and-one finish on back to back possessions helped cut the deficit to 6 in the third quarter, before Charlotte would push back. A final Mavs run at the end of the fourth quarter would prove too little and too late, as a Gal Mekel buzzer beating floater would make it 86-80 in favor of the Robert Cats.
The box score:
CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (1-1)
FIELD GOALSREBOUNDS
POS
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
+/-
OFF
DEF
TOT
AST
PF
ST
TO
BS
BA
PTS
M. Kidd-Gilchrist
F/C
28:02
4-4
0-0
3-4
+9
0
3
3
1
3
1
3
0
0
11
C. Zeller
F/C
32:35
6-12
0-1
9-9
+7
2
11
13
1
3
0
2
1
2
21
B. Biyombo
F/C
26:16
2-3
0-0
4-8
+12
1
6
7
0
3
0
4
1
0
8
J. Taylor
F/C
32:30
6-13
2-5
5-6
+3
1
4
5
1
5
1
3
0
2
19
J. Dyson
G
25:05
3-5
0-1
4-8
+4
0
1
1
4
2
1
5
0
0
10
B. Triche
14:55
3-4
1-1
1-2
+2
0
0
0
1
2
0
4
0
0
8
P. Ewing Jr.
16:12
2-4
0-0
0-0
-1
1
2
3
1
3
0
5
0
0
4
T. Daniels
11:02
2-6
1-3
0-0
-4
1
2
3
1
2
1
0
0
0
5
H. Sims
13:23
0-3
0-0
0-2
-2
1
3
4
0
2
1
1
0
0
0
N. Barbour
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
K. Benson
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
A. Gaddy
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S. Jones
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
R. McGruder
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
J. Skeen
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
D. Washington
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
Totals
200
28-54
4-11
26-39
7
32
39
10
25
5
27
2
4
86
51.9%
36.4%
66.7%
TEAM REBS: 15
TOTAL TO: 28
DALLAS MAVERICKS (1-1)
FIELD GOALSREBOUNDS
POS
MIN
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
+/-
OFF
DEF
TOT
AST
PF
ST
TO
BS
BA
PTS
J. Crowder
F/C
31:56
6-12
2-7
2-3
-7
0
2
2
3
8
2
5
1
0
16
C. Watford
F
10:42
2-6
1-3
0-0
-10
1
1
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
5
H. N'Diaye
C
15:00
0-1
0-0
0-0
0
1
3
4
0
3
0
0
2
0
0
J. Akognon
G
24:04
6-14
3-9
1-2
+6
0
0
0
1
1
3
1
0
0
16
G. Mekel
G
29:11
5-9
0-2
1-2
-12
0
2
2
4
3
1
3
0
1
11
D. Dedmon
09:43
1-2
0-0
0-0
-3
0
2
2
0
7
0
3
1
0
2
J. Carmichael
21:22
3-5
0-0
0-1
-2
0
2
2
1
6
1
2
0
0
6
R. Ledo
25:17
1-8
0-3
2-2
+1
0
6
6
2
4
2
3
0
1
4
T. White
07:09
0-1
0-0
2-4
-9
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
J. Dentmon
20:22
5-8
2-4
6-8
+3
0
2
2
1
1
1
2
0
0
18
D. Stephens
05:14
0-1
0-0
0-2
+3
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
J. Dillard
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
B. James
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S. Larkin
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
A. Paranhos
DNP - COACH'S DECISION
Totals
200
29-67
8-28
14-24
2
21
23
13
33
10
20
4
2
80
43.3%
28.6%
58.3%
TEAM REBS: 10
TOTAL TO: 20
Some observations:
- Jae Crowder came alive in the second half. After going 1-5 in the first, he was 5-7 after the break. Even if it was the Summer League, there was no quit in Jae. There is still the lingering question of why so many of his attempts come from outside(Crowder is 3-13 from long distance after two games), though.
- Josh Akognon had a fine enough follow up performance, scoring 16 points on 14 shots. Akognon has been paired with Gal Mekel almost exclusively, which suggests his point skills are not terribly well developed at this stage, and may never be.
- Gal Mekel is a pretty nice, solid-looking point guard. I don't know about the jumpshot yet still, but he is legitimately very good in pick and roll, and should get better when he gets a partner capable of finishing his passes(with Bernard James out the Mavs' bigs were completely useless).
- Out of nowhere, Justin Dentmon led the Mavs with 18 points. Most of them came at the line, and I can't say I was terribly impressed with him one way or another.
- Not the best night for Ricky Ledo. A 1-8 shooting performance, and a couple of bad turnovers, made him look more like a kid who is essentially straight out of high school. We'll check back in with him on Tuesday.