Mavericks vs. Heat Final Score: Dallas loses at Miami, 123-118

The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Miami Heat on Sunday night by a score of 123-118. Kyrie Irving led the way for Dallas with 27 points, while Jimmy Butler scored 33 points of his own for Miami. In what has become a frustrating pattern this season, Dallas played well but couldn’t close the game down the stretch. Their record falls to 9-8 on the season.

Dallas came out of the gates on fire, scoring on six of their first seven possessions. An easy Quentin Grimes layup gave the Mavericks a 13-8 lead, prompting a timeout from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. It took a few minutes, but Miami found its footing and some uninspired defense from Dallas allowed the Heat to keep the game close. Things fell apart for the Mavericks to end the first as the offense completely dried up. Miami ended the quarter on a 16-5 run to take a 33-28 lead into the second period.

Buckets remained hard to come by for Dallas to begin the second period; their scoring drought reached almost six minutes of action before a Daniel Gafford advance stopped the bleeding. Miami opened up a brief double-digit lead, but a three-and-one from the combination of Kyrie Irving and PJ Washington helped the Mavericks settle and tie the game at 39. The game then turned into a sludge fest, with both teams engaged. in some bozo basketball for the rest of the frame. The Maverick offense got stuck in the mud again, allowing Miami to take a 56-51 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Mavericks quickly tied the game early in the third quarter, with Klay Thompson scoring seven big points. The two teams traded baskets for a while after that, and Dallas couldn’t quite get over the hump when they had a chance to take the lead. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, Miami caught fire from three midway through the period and built their lead to as many as 10. It looked like the Heat might pull away, but Naji Marshall scored 10 straight points for Dallas and the Mavericks went on a mini-run to end the quarter and brought themselves within five at 89-84 after three.

Spencer Dinwiddie opened the fourth quarter with a personal 5-0 run that tied the game. Dallas got a few points down and tied the game several times during the quarter, but couldn’t take the lead until a massive Kyrie Irving staredown three finally put them ahead with 4:34 left. Dallas struggled to score for the next two minutes, but Miami couldn’t retake the lead, and a massive Irving and-one gave them a four-point lead with 2:30 left. But Miami answered back and a tough layup from Jimmy Butler restored their lead at 112-11 with a minute left. Irving gave Dallas the lead back with a sweet pull-up jumper and then made a great hustle play to steal the ball and give Dallas an extra possession up one with 14 seconds left. Irving was fouled but split the free throws; unfortunately, Jimmy Butler tied the game with a dunk with 4.3 seconds left. A desperation three from Dinwiddie ran out and the game went to overtime.

Overtime was a disaster for Dallas as they scored just four points in the period. Jimmy Butler took over for Miami, while the Mavericks decided to run the offense through Spencer Dinwiddie, who wasn’t up to the task. The Mavericks lost, 123-118. Here are three observations from this one.

Too much Spencer Dinwiddie

Okay, look, I get what Jason Kidd was thinking. He would have another ball-handler and playmaker alongside Kyrie down the stretch of the game. Dinwiddie hadn’t shot the ball well, but he competed on defense and gave Dallas some extra creativity on offense. He even made a clutch defensive play down the stretch that should have helped Dallas win the game. But Kidd, as he so often does with his favorite veterans, gave Dinwiddie far too long a leash. Dinwiddie played the entire overtime period, took four shots, missed all of them and committed a turnover that led to points for Miami. One of the shots he made was an early clock, down three with 53 seconds left and the Mavs down just four. And on defense, he didn’t do much as Miami got what they wanted in OT. It was a confusing decision from Kidd, both from a process and outcome perspective. Dinwiddie was 1-of-12 from the field for the game, and there was just no reason to reward a bench player with so much late run when he’s shooting like that.

Kyrie Irving can’t be a quarter player

Irving was brilliant in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points and hitting several clutch shots that should have been game-sealers. But he missed a crucial free kick that directly led to overtime. And before the fourth, Irving didn’t make his presence felt. Maybe the game won’t be a do-or-die situation if Irving is more aggressive in the first three quarters. And all the energy Irving expended in the fourth rendered him completely ineffective in overtime. With Luka Doncic out, Irving has to play like a number one to beat good teams, and he didn’t do that tonight.

Naji Marshall continues to impress

Marshall scored just one point in the first half and it looked like he was headed for one of his worst games of the season. But he turned it around in a big way in the second half, pouring in 19 points and spearheading the Maverick comeback. Marshall has been a revelation for Dallas and his production off the bench has been massive. He was the only substitute to get juice tonight and it was disappointing that no one else from the bench helped him out.

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