DALLAS, TX — The Dallas Mavericks are 22-3 when leading after three quarters this season. However, it’s a much different story for Dallas (30-28) in the first quarter.
Dallas, who’s currently sixth in the Western Conference, is 18-7 when leading after one but 11-20 when trailing after 12 minutes.
On Wednesday, the Mavs trailed the Oklahoma City Thunder 33-24 after one and OKC went on to a 116-103 victory to sweep the season series with Dallas.
Slow starts are something Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle is aware of and a trend he wants to reverse as soon as Friday when Dallas hosts the Denver Nuggets in game four of a six-game homestand at American Airlines Center.
“We’re not playing well enough [in the first quarter],” Carlisle said after shootaround on Friday morning at the arena. “We’re having struggles on both sides of the ball, so we’re looking to make that better. Denver was having the same problems and they won the first quarter against the Clippers the other night and it put them in a stronger position to play well throughout the game. It’s no secret that the NBA in many ways is a first-quarter league. It’s something we’ve got to get cleaned up and do better with.”
Through 58 games, the Mavs are averaging 24 points in the first quarter while allowing 25.1 points in the game’s opening 12 minutes.
That’s not a big or even noticeable point differential, but Carlisle knows that more often than not in today’s NBA, a good or bad start can be a harbinger of better or worse things to come over the game’s final 36 minutes.
“It [a slow start] puts pressure on any team, it’s not just ours. It’s a very competitive league now, so it’s difficult. It’s difficult to play well. Everybody is going hard, everybody is trying to win, so we got to pick it up, we’re at home, which means we should be able to generate energy here, and we’re in a very important stretch, so we just got to make it happen,” Carlisle said.
Dallas is 1-1 on its current homestand, but the Mavs are just 2-6 in February with two games remaining in the month.
Following Sunday’s home date with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas will have 22 games remaining. 13 of those will be against current playoff teams.
Dallas will have seven home games in March with all but two of those being against likely playoff teams.
So Carlisle knows that racking up wins at home, where Dallas is currently 16-12, is even more vital, especially considering the Mavs finish the regular season by playing eight of their final 12 games away from AAC.
But one theory Carlisle doesn’t buy into is that one contributing factor why the Mavs have had so many slow starts this year is that his veteran-laden starting five is full of guys who simply take a little time to get into the flow of the game once it tips.
“I consider anything. But I don’t buy that just because guys are veteran guys that they need more time to get into a game. The urgency is now, and these guys are our best players. They have to set that tone. There’s no excuse. We just got to pick it up,” Carlisle said.
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