Mavericks Still A Work In Progress - 86-99

Kevin Durant and the Thunder spoiled the first game for the new and improved Mavs as the Dallas offense went cold in the second half. (AP Photo)

This was definitely not what Dallas Mavericks (32-21) envisioned for the first game with their new acquisitions, especially on the offensive end.

All things considered, this game was a tale of two quarters. With 10:52 left in the second quarter, Dallas had their biggest lead at 28-16 and had held the Thunder to under 30 percent shooting up to that point. The Mavericks then allowed the Oklahoma City Thunder (31-21) to score 40 points (season-high for OKC) and miss only five of 22 shots the rest of the quarter (77 percent). The Thunder found themselves up 56-54 at halftime after Dallas' horrendous defensive display.

The Mavericks compounded their horrendous defensive effort by having their worst offensive quarter all-season in the third. Dallas went over seven minutes in the quarter without scoring a point and finished the third having made only three of the 20 shots they attempted. The most disheartening part is how allergic the Mavs were to the paint on the offensive end. Of the Mavs' 20 field goal attempts, half of them were from 15-feet or further from the basket. After the smoke cleared, Dallas had a season-low 11 points and found themselves in their biggest hole of the game at 65-78.

"They were just making shots and we weren't," said new Maverick Caron Butler. "That's the story of the game. The third quarter, that really killed us."

Dallas got as close as eight (84-92) with 1:57 left in the fourth, but OKC stiffened up defensively and the Mavs managed only two-more points - a J.J. Barea lay-up in garbage time with 16 seconds left - the rest of the game. The Mavericks missed 10 of their final 12 shots from the field and 21 of 31 in the second half. For the game, Dallas shot a season-low 32 percent.

"It was frustrating," said Rick Carlise, who has seen his Mavericks lose six of their past eight games. "I'm not going to make excuses about the trade."

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 24 points, but made only 2 of his final 12 shots after starting the game 7-10. Dirk also added nine rebounds and six assists.

Kevin Durant had a game-high 25 points, as his coach decided to let him stay in the game even with it all-but-over at 97-84 Thunder with 26 seconds left in regulation. Durant made one of two free-throws and got his lay-up to get his 25 points - although it took him 27 shots to get there. Oklahoma City has now won seven straight games (dating back to Jan.29).

Newcomers Have Shaky Start

Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson all made their season-debuts for the Mavericks, Tuesday night and none had a very good game.

Caron Butler looked nervous to begin the game starting out with a turnover, an airball and a missed defensive assignment that allowed Jeff Green and easy lay-up. Butler though, scoring six points, grabbing three rebounds and even blocking Kevin Durant at the rim. He scored his first basket at the 7:00 mark of the first, a top of the key jumper just below the three point line, and actually ending the quarter strong. Butler scored six points, grabbed three rebounds and even blocked Kevin Durant at the rim in his first quarter as a Mav. It didn't end well though as Butler barely played in the fourth and finished the game 4-16 from the field for 13 points while also bringing down six boards.

Brendan Haywood played only 15 minutes, but got off to a good start. The new Mavericks' center scored his first basket with 4:00 to go in the first (a nice catch from Terry and lay-up) and actually led Dalas with seven points to begin the second quarter, while adding four rebounds, at that point. Haywood didn't score again and only grabbed two more rebounds the rest of the game.

DeShawn Stevenson played (and Rodrigue Beaubois didn't!?!?) missing his only shot in five minutes of action. He played OK defense, I guess, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)