Inside Report: Mavericks-Warriors preview — Slumping Mavs try to right the ship in the Bay Area

Earl K. Sneed previews the Mavericks' nationally-televised matchup in Oakland against the Warriors, as the Dallas team tries to avoid a third straight loss and fifth defeat in a seven-game stretch.

OAKLAND, Calif. — With very little time to think about their late-game miscues one night earlier, the Mavericks head into ORACLE Arena looking to shake off the sting of back-to-back defeats and a string of four losses in their last six games.

Less than 24 hours after suffering a 104-101 defeat in Portland, the Mavericks (47-20) will look to end their recent skid against the high-octane Golden State Warriors, while also hoping to conclude their two-game road trip on a positive note before returning to Dallas for the start of a three-game homestand.

Fortunately for the Mavericks’ sake they won’t have to contend with LaMarcus Aldridge for a second night in a row, after the Blazers’ big man tallied up 30 points on 13-of-25 shooting against the Dallas defense on Tuesday night. The Mavs will, however, have to find a way to slow down the NBA’s No. 7 scorer, Monta Ellis, and the league’s seventh-best scoring team if they hope to bring an end to their losing ways.

“It’s a totally different team. That ain’t the same kind of team we play (Wednesday night),” forward Shawn Marion said after the loss to the Blazers. “[The Warriors] don’t have a LaMarcus Aldridge over there, but they’ve got a Monta Ellis over there and a couple of other guys that are playing well. So, we’ve just got to get our rest, because it’s gonna be a track race. They put up a lot of points, they like to score, so that’s all.”

The Mavericks were able to hold off the Warriors (30-37) back at the American Airlines Center on Dec. 7, before snatching away a 105-100 victory on their home floor even with center Tyson Chandler out due to a stomach illness. Dallas may once again have to find a way to win without one of its 7-footers, with backup big man Brendan Haywood questionable for Wednesday night’s contest after missing the loss to Portland due to lower back stiffness.

With Haywood out the Mavericks lacked their three-headed monster of he, Chandler and reserve center Ian Mahinmi to throw Aldridge’s way. And as a result the Mavericks couldn’t stop the Blazers from grabbing 15 offensive rebounds on the night — especially with Chandler in foul trouble late — while Dallas surrendered 18 more shot attempts. Portland also racked up a 48-36 advantage in points in the paint, scoring 22 points off the Mavericks’ 15 turnovers, while the Dallas team forced just seven giveaways which translated to only eight points at the other end.

“I think the story of the game was just the possessions,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “They got 18 more shots up than we did, because we struggled to finish off possessions and they got a lot of offensive rebounds. And the turnovers they forced turned into 22 points and we forced seven that turned into eight, so that’s a huge difference. That to me is the biggest part of the game and down the stretch they made plays.”

And after outshooting the Blazers, 59.7 percent to 47.1 percent, the Mavericks shot their highest percentage in a loss since connecting on 60 percent in a 127-117 defeat to Atlanta on Mar. 15, 1991.

“You shoot 60 percent on the road and lose, that’s tough,” leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki said. “Turnovers killed us down the stretch … We doubled them in turnovers and that really hurt us. Really, it was offensive rebounds in the first half and turnovers down the stretch.”

“It was a good game, we’ve just got to learn from our mistakes out there,” Marion added.

The Mavericks will try not to make the same mistakes two nights in a row, after holding Ellis to 18 points — well below his 24.7-point scoring average — in the first meting, while Warriors point guard Stephen Curry led the way with 21 points. But with both of the backcourt mates capable of seeing big nights, in addition to big man David Lee and sharpshooter Dorell Wright, Carlisle says that it’s important that the Mavs not focus solely on what went right the first go-round, especially if they hope to avoid a three-game losing streak against a Golden State team that is 21-13 at home.

“Right now, we’ve got to just focus on our process of playing and the things that are important to us,” Carlisle said. “It’s efficiency with the ball, defense, rebounding and playing our game. Looking back is not that productive at this point. I think the most important thing is focusing on tonight.”

Note: Wednesday night the Mavs will head into Oracle Arena to match up with the Warriors. The Mavs will try to snatch a second win in the three-game season series when the two teams meet again in a matchup that will tip off at 9:30 p.m. CT, airing nationally on ESPN and locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

The team returns to the American Airlines Center next Friday night to host the league-leading San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio leads the season series 2-1. The matchup will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest. Great seats are still available and tickets can be purchased by visiting the American Airlines Center box office, logging on to Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287).

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