**OKLAHOMA CITY – First off, the Mavericks can certainly live with winning seven of every eight games, which is what they have done since Nov. 25.**
So even though they went down 118-104 against the Thunder on Tuesday night, it doesn’t mean things have turned south.
But the NBA Cup Nights quarterfinal game did point out several important needs that the Mavericks still must address as the season meanders through the holidays and into 2025.
The Mavericks are going to get a four-day break before their next game, which will be Sunday either at Golden State or home against Houston. They’ll find out their schedule Wednesday night when those teams play in the second Western Conference semifinal game.
Until then, the Mavericks will have the chance for at least a couple practices to iron out problems. And four nights in a row in their own beds is something that hasn’t happened since early December.
Here’s the takeaways from Tuesday’s setback at the Paycom Center:
**On the rebound:** Before this game, the Mavericks had outrebounded their opponent in three consecutive games and 10 of their last 12. They got outworked on the boards by the Thunder 52-44 and surrendered 17 offensive rebounds that seemed to lead to dunk after dunk after putback. OKC had 10 of their offensive rebounds after halftime, when they scored 26 points in the paint and shot 57 percent. “We talked about it,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We had to own the boards and we didn’t do that.” The Mavericks got 24 combined rebounds from Dereck Lively II and Luka Dončić. The rest of the team combined for 20. Overall, the Mavericks have been a solid rebounding team this season, averaging 2.1 more caroms per game than their opponents. They will need to get back to that sort of effort moving forward.
**In praise of P.J.:** The Mavericks’ rebounding may also have been a product of the absence of P.J. Washington, who was out with the same sort of illness that has sidelined a lot of the Mavericks in recent weeks. It’s been making the rounds. Their record without the 6-7 forward now is 1-5 this season. That would seem to indicate he’s a pretty important X-factor for this team.
**Dealing with the Thunder:** It was a different OKC team than the one the Mavericks beat on the road in November. They had center Isaiah Hartenstein and that pestering guard, Alex Caruso. Both had a significant impact on this game, Hartenstein with 10 points and 13 rebounds and Caruso with six points, four rebounds and four assists, not to mention a couple steals as he helped anchor the Thunder’s No. 1 rated defense. While the Mavericks are reigning Western Conference champions, the Thunder have served notice that they are going to have to be reckoned with, particularly when 7-1 Chet Holmgren returns. His perimeter game will provide a much different look at center as he teams with the more paint-oriented Hartenstein.
**Final thoughts:** The Mavericks “have to do a better job of taking care of the ball.” Those were Kidd’s words after they had 19 turnovers. The Mavericks have had a disturbing trend lately to be a bit careless with the ball. They are averaging 14.4 miscues per game, which still ranks among the 15 lowest totals in the NBA. But last season, they gave the ball away only 12.5 times per game. That’s a significant uptick this season and needs to get rectified.
**X: @ESefko**