Dallas Mavericks batter Detroit Pistons 100-86 - NBA Recap
Reigning NBA World champions Dallas Mavericks started the season with three straight losses but looks like they are back in the groove now.
On Tuesday night, they collected their 5th win on the season and first on the road by routing Detroit Pistons 100-86, to improve their record to 5-5. Detroit Pistons, who are having a nightmarish season so far, have dropped to 2-8 after the loss.
"It's a road win that we haven't had yet, so that's really important to us," coach Rick Carlisle said. "Momentum has been elusive for us, so we respect how tough it is competitively in this league right now, but our goal is to build on this."
Big man Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 18 points on near perfect shooting, knocking down 9-for-10 from the floor and 7 boards while Shawn Marion (14) was 6 for 6 from the charity stripe. Veteran Vince Carter had 11 points while the reserve Ian Mahinmi bundled
10.
It was thoroughly a clinical performance from the champions and the team work they displayed was pleasing to see.
"We've had some rough ones, but tonight was a good one all around," Marion said. "Everybody was contributing, helping each other."
Mavs were accurate with their shooting- 55.1% from the floor, and outclassed the Pistons in rebounds 36-29 and assists 28-17.
William Bynum marshalled the Pistons with a game high 20 points on 5 for 6 from the free throw line while Brandon Knight pounded 12 points. Ben Gordon (11) was the only other player who managed to end with scores in double digits.
Pistons were not that erratic with the shooting but they did not seem to have the urge for the win and committed 21 turnovers in the game which hurt them badly in the end.
Dirk and company got the Mavs off to a flying start, 17-4, which allowed them to maintain the domination throughout the first quarter and end it with a 10 point lead 30-20.
Carrying the momentum into the second frame, the Mavs kept the lead intact and then to make things worse for the opponents, they rattled an 8-0 run, when scores were 42-32, to get in a commanding position at 50-32.
Pistons simply had no answers to the onslaught and they failed to penetrate the Mavs D in the remainder of the game. Dirk’s jumper midway through the third frame almost boosted the lead to 30 points 68-40.
That was it. The Pistons failed to make any sort of a comeback and only managed to reduce the losing margin to 14 points in the end. When the game ended, they were just glad to get off the court.
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