The Mavericks confirm their progress by moving to the Heat
It’s not a revival yet, but the Mavericks are doing better. The Texans played a great game and dominated Miami, third in the East before Wednesday’s meeting (118-108). A little less diminished and above all more coherent in the gameJason Kidd’s team looks like i found a recipe that works.
However, this was far from obvious at the start of the meeting. The Heat are very aggressive at the start of the game and lead 10-2 after only two minutes of play. Cooper Flagg enters his match in attack, but commits two quick fouls and has to return to the bench before time. The start of a long night for the Mavericks? Rather about rebellion. Max Christie then incoming Klay Thompson they’re pulling threes, while the Heat are struggling to find solutions to set plays. The gap is decreasing little by little Brandon Williamsalso coming off the bench, puts two teams back to back (26-26).
Ryan Nembhardt continues to seduce
Miami relies on the duo Tyler Herro – Kel’el Ware to start again, and the guard proved to be unstoppable in the first period (20 points). But the Mavericks entered their matchup and are also counting on a shocking tandem with Cooper Flagg and Ryan Nembhardt. The unrefined rookie surprises again and this time shows off his skill behind the arc. Nembhard scored 11 points in less than three minutes and went on a 12-2 run to turn the tide of the match (58-49). The Heat is no longer there offensively, hampered by the Dallas defense. The home team took advantage of their momentum and returned to the locker room with a 10-point lead (64-54).
The Mavericks have taken control of the match and don’t seem to want to let it go. Nembhard goes into distributor mode this time and everyone benefits. All-star indoor duel between Anthony Davis etc Bam Adebayo offers some nice sequences but Heat can’t close the gap. Worse, it stretches out to 17 lengths (83-66, 31′), a mistake by a very good Flagg on offense. Miami doesn’t give up and finds some skill from afar to sign a small series, while Dallas loses a new player until Daniel Gafford twists his left ankle and has to go back to the locker room.
The deciding duo of Flagg – Davis
The guests manage to get back under ten points, but D’Angelo Russell guards and gives the Mavs some breathing room with two 3-point shots in the final minute of the third quarter (93-80).
The Heat bench leaves a good impression on Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr or Drew Smith. With their other knives, Erik Spoelstra and Miami are back in the game and the dynamic seems to be slowly but surely shifting in favor of the Floridians. The top five with Ware and Adebayo works and makes up for the complete awkwardnessAndrew Wiggins (11 points on 4/18) and Tyler Arrow in the second period. It even smacks of holding, as Adebayo resists three defenders in transition to cut the deficit to four slim points with less than three minutes left (110-106). But the Flagg-Davis duo fended off the danger by scoring the final eight points for the Mavericks to secure the win, and in a good way.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– Jason Kidd appears to be holding up the middle finger. The inclusion of Ryan Nembhardt as the starting leader is indeed a real success. The playmaker is fearless and plays with great precision. He finished with 15 points and 13 assists for only one turnover. Collectively, these Mavericks look much better, and the entire team benefits from seven players between 10 and 22 points, visibly more comfortable for Cooper Flagg. The 16/32 triple with many open positions is another symbol of this much better oiled team.
– Tyler Hero, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Or rather Mister Hide as he disappeared in the second period. The Heat guard had a great first period with his 20 points on 8/12 shooting. But he completely disappeared after returning from the locker room with zero points and 0/5 shooting. Not the kind of performance expected from the offensive leader, who couldn’t make up for his absence elsewhere in the game (without a decisive pass).
– Dallas picks up the lead for the game. With the third consecutive victory, Dallas revives. And an average start to the season in the soft bottom of the West has the Mavericks just one win shy (8-15) of Memphis and Portland (9-13), 9th and 10th in the conference. Miami dropped to 4th place in the East with this loss.
2025-12-04 06:06:00
