The [Dallas Mavericks](https://www.mavsmoneyball.com) fell to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, losing a fun nationally broadcast game, 122-111. Ja Morant shook off early shooting struggles to finish with 31 points and eight assists. Naji Marshall turned in a huge game for Dallas in defeat, scoring 29 points and grabbing a game high 17 rebounds.
Dallas hung around early as Ja Morant and the rest of the Grizzlies struggled at scoring from anywhere on the floor. The bench unit, led by Spencer Dinwiddie, pushed ahead of Memphis late in the quarter. Turnovers plagued the Grizzlies and Dallas scored six points in the frame off of four Memphis turnovers. Shorthanded Dallas led 31-22 after one quarter of play.
Instead of Memphis making a comeback, Dallas stuck it to Memphis early and for most of the quarter. Brandon Williams helped keep the Mavericks ahead as Dallas held onto a double digit lead for good chunks of the quarter. The Grizzlies finally shook up the rust to close the lead in the final four minutes, but Dallas took a 53-50 lead into the half.
Offense came alive for both teams in the third. Naji Marshall led Dallas, scoring every which way under the sun. After a sloppy first half, Ja Morant found some element of touch and put the ball in the basket with regularity. Dante Exum’s crazy bank shot three at the buzzer capped off a 41 point quarter from Dallas, which gave them a 94-89 lead heading into the fourth.
The Mavericks came unglued in the fourth as the shots which had been falling mostly stopped. After the scoring outburst in the fourth, the Mavericks managed just 17 points. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, remembered they were the better team and put the gas on late and exploded past the Mavericks. Dallas falls to .500, losing to Memphis, 122-111.
Brandon Williams, have yourself a game
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Did you know Brandon Williams is the NBA G-League leading scorer? It’s true. He’s only played eight games this season but on a per game effort, he’s scored 28.5 points per game on really efficient shooting.
Dallas fans finally saw that effort translate with the Mavericks, as Williams exploded for a career high 31 points on 10-15 shooting in just 33 minutes. Williams has usually played the role of point guard with Dallas but tonight he took advantage of a suspect Memphis defense to score early and often. He his a team-high four three-pointers to go along with multiple forays into the paint. Good for him, getting to showcase his talent on a national television game.
Dallas won the three-point battle, but it wasn’t enough
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When Dallas won five of six heading into the All-Star break, they did so with scorching shooting. No one wanted to rain on their parade about how high levels of shooting aren’t sustainable, so it wasn’t mentioned much. But with Kyrie Irving and so many others hurt, we can say it now: Dallas is really only going to win games now by out shooting teams.
And they did so tonight against Memphis. Until they didn’t that is. At one point the Mavericks were +30 from the three point line, only to finish up +21. Despite hitting 15 threes to eight for the Grizzlies, Dallas didn’t have enough conventional half court scoring to hold off Memphis for al 48 minutes.
Welcome Caleb Martin!
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Not much to say here, other than hello. His 14 minutes were welcome and I look forward to seeing how he can play with more minutes and more freedom. My [Sixers](https://www.libertyballers.com) fan friends tell me his shots are a bit scary to look at, but they go down. We’ll see more of what he has Sunday against the Suns. After all, there isn’t anyone else to play! He has to get time.