The Dallas Mavericks defeated the New York Knicks on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, winning 114-97 . Both teams had players nursing injuries, but it was the Mavericks who ended up with the big win.
Let’s get to the grades!
Cooper Flagg: B
18 PTS / 7 REB / 3 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 28 MIN
Flagg had a solid game, but it was somewhat muted by a minutes restriction and Max Christie providing a lot of scoring punch. His four turnovers were somewhat glaring, but he hit 50% of his 14 shot attempts and chipped in a bit of everything.
Max Christie: A+
26 PTS / 6 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 35 MIN
Christie went absolutely out of his mind and it was a sight to behold. I’ve recently written about how nice it is to see him do more than shoot threes, but Monday night it was plenty nice to see him hoisting the long ball. Christie was 9-for-13 including a mind-boggling 8-for-10 from deep. His second half play came down to earth a bit, but it hardly mattered with the Mavs taking a 20+ point lead into the final frame. He led all scorers and hit a career high in three-point field goals for top marks.
Caleb Martin: C+
3 PTS / 1 REB / 3 AST / 3 STL / 1 BLK – 24 MIN
Most of Martin’s contribution came in the form of stuff you won’t see in a box score. He hounded the Knicks on defense, an effort highlighted by another three steals, but otherwise left the offense to others.
Naji Marshall: B
19 PTS / 8 REB / 4 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 33 MIN
Marshall couldn’t be stopped in the first half, driving relentlessly to eviscerate the Knicks’ defense. As the game went on, he took more three-pointers, but only hit 1-for-6, driving his shooting percentage down. His game was very similar to Flagg’s, with his blemish being a lower shooting percentage rather than a high turnover total.
Dwight Powell: B
2 PTS / 5 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 28 MIN
As ridiculous as it sounds, Powell is getting a bump for the absolute beating he took at the hands of Karl Anthony-Towns. Throughout his NBA career, Powell has been hit in the face more than a professional boxer, but Monday night was next level. Towns is known for his flailing knees, but Powell took a variety of groin shots and stayed professional, using it as motivation to play harder. In respect of his actual game, there isn’t much to talk about. The Knicks’ bigs decimated the Mavericks bigs, but Powell was a pro doing the dirty unsung work.
Klay Thompson: A-
14 PTS / 5 REB / 2 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – 21 MIN
I’m inclined to go a bit high on Thompson’s grade, which seems counterintuitive relative to his recent play. That said, he did a nice job intangibly on defense, while grabbing boards, getting steals and even tossing a couple of assists to his teammates. In the limited time he played, it was a good game that looked better than even the box score may suggest.
Ryan Nembhard: C+
4 PTS / 3 REB / 5 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 22 MIN
Nembhard didn’t have a huge impact on the stat line, struggling to find his shot (2-for-7) with a 5:2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Extra credit for checking in late in the third quarter to settle things down when the Mavericks were a bit out of sorts – it won’t show up in any statistical category, but it was undoubtedly significant and allowed Dallas to enter the fourth quarter with a 23-point lead.
Moussa Cisse: A-
15 PTS / 9 REB / 1 AST / 1 STL / 4 BLK – 20 MIN
Cisse did his best to match the Knicks’ size, and while his numbers may not have been as pretty at Karl-Anthony Towns’ or Mitchell Robinson’s numbers, he did work in just under 20 minutes of play. His four blocks were a menace to the Knicks, but his three turnovers and four fouls didn’t help his cause. Stepping up and hitting two free throws when the Knicks decided to Hack-A-Cisse was bigger than the final score may indicate.
Final Thoughts
Both teams were a bit beat up coming in, but Dallas was coming off two lopsided wins while New York has been struggling of late. The Mavericks came in like a wrecking crew, dropping the most first-half points the Knicks have given up all season. As expected, things got a bit closer here and there in the second half, frankly getting too close for comfort late in the fourth quarter before Dallas closed it out. The Mavericks have plenty of struggles right now with a lot of players out or having just returned, but you wouldn’t have known it in what was basically a full on drubbing of the Knicks Monday night.
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