Jeffries Provides Offense in Loss to Mavericks

Without one of their most explosive players for the afternoon, the Knicks turned to Jared Jeffries to carry the offense early on against Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.  

Jared Jeffries?  

Yes, the Knicks’ defensive specialist and top energy guy showed that he can score the ball, too. With Nate Robinson out with a strained right hamstring, Jeffries reached his career high for points in a quarter by making 12 in the opening period and finished with 14 in a 128-78 loss to the Mavericks Sunday at The Garden. It was the first time in his four-year career in New York he led the team in scoring.  

Jeffries made four of his first six shots to help the Knicks end the first quarter down only two points despite shooting 43 percent overall in the period. The 6-foot-10 forward finished three shy of his season high with 12 points after grabbing a long offensive rebound and quickly knocking down a14-foot  turnaround jumper with a second left in the opening quarter.  

“I thought the first quarter we played well,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said.  

But after Jeffries went to the bench for the first time midway through the second quarter, the Knicks fell behind by double digits for the first time in the game and never recovered. The hot-shooting Mavericks led by as many as 53 in the fourth quarter on a day the Knicks could have used Robinson’s offense. It was the largest lead in the NBA this season.  

Robinson, a reserve guard, suffered the right hamstring injury in the first half of Friday night’s loss to the L.A. Lakers. He had initially listed himself as day-to-day after the game and was hoping to play against Dallas, but his leg still felt awkward Sunday morning.  

Jeffries was the only Knick to reach double figures in scoring for nearly 36 minutes before David Lee flipped in a short hook shot late in the third quarter. Lee, coming off 31-point, 17-rebound performance against the Lakers, finished with 11 and 14 before sitting out the entire fourth quarter. No other Knicks finished in double digits.  

Nowitzki and Jason Terry scored 20 apiece to lead seven players in double figures for the Mavericks, who shot 58 percent from the field.  

“They were very good,” D’Antoni said. “They were much more athletic than we were today. They shot the ball extremely well and you could see why they are one of the top teams in the West.”  

The big deficit gave some seldom-used Knicks players an opportunity to get some extended minutes. Toney Douglas scored eight, Jonathan Bender had seven and Marcus Landry added six.