The Dallas Mavericks are on a losing streak and the news and rumors are coming out.
Check out the latest buzz below.
Felton Doesn’t Play
Raymond Felton, acquired in the Tyson Chandler trade, was eligible to play for the first time this season after dealing with injuries then serving a four-game suspension for gun charges levied against him last season in New York, but he was not activated for Monday’s game.
The Mavericks have four point guards.
Coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t think he'll face a challenge in doling out playing time.
“The players determine the minutes, by being ready, by how they play in games,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got a good situation.”
“There are a lot of teams right now that would die to have one or two of our point guards. We’ve got one or two extra, which is a great position to be in,” he added.
Felton emphasized that despite being a starter through most of his career he’s just ready to help out where he can.
“That’s not my decision to make,” Felton said. “I’ve worked hard through training camp and I’ve worked hard ever since I’ve been injured, so the biggest thing is whatever Coach and this staff needs me to do, that’s what I'll do.”
ESPN noted that there isn’t a clear role for Felton since Monta Ellis plays most of the minutes at shooting guard and Devin Harris most of the rest, while Harris, Jameer Nelson, and J.J. Barea all share time at point guard.
“We'll just have to see,” Carlisle said on Felton’s role.
“There’s nothing definite at this point in time. We got a lot of point guards. We got to give them all a lot of love. It’s really a great situation for us. You look around the league, Indiana’s got two point guards out. We’re very fortunate. Are there enough minutes for all of them? No. But they’re all professionals and they’re all going to stay ready. I feel it’s a very good position to be in.”
Chandler Says Knicks in the Past
Tyson Chandler, brought back in the trade, says that he’s focused on the Mavericks and that “the Knicks are in my rearview mirror.”
“I don’t mean that in a negative way, but it’s in the past, and I’m moving forward,” he told ESPN.
Chandler said that he felt he was the scapegoat at time on the Knicks last year as he struggled to return to top form after injuries.
“I think people can take it differently and make it what they want to make it,” Chandler said when asked whether his leadership attempts were lost in translation in New York.
“It also depends on where your mind is. If everybody is locked in and they want to win and they know I’m in it 100 percent and they’re in it 100 percent, nobody’s sensitive. But if there’s other agendas, it’s going to make things sensitive.”
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said bringing back Chandler to the team has been great.
“He’s been a great help, great impact on the court, off the court,” he said. “Everything we thought he was, he was.”
Meanwhile, Chandler said that the team has to play better defense.
“Teams are shooting too high a percentage against us,” Chandler told the Dallas News. “And it’s not just because teams make shots against us, it’s because we allow teams to make shots against us. We can’t let guys come in and have career nights. We got to put a stop to it.”
Chandler said that the Mavs have to focus on stopping players from scoring a lot of points, using Donald Sloan’s 29 on Monday night as an example.
“The focus and the understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said. “It can’t always be offense. You can’t always try to outscore teams. Some nights, you’re going to have to rely on your defense. But when we can’t buy a stop and they’re playing harder on defense than we’re playing and we start struggling offensively, you don’t win. And you have nights like this.”
Big Plans for Ledo
Ricky Ledo is back with the team after two games with the D-League’s Texas Legends.
Ledo averaged 12.5 points and 2.5 rebounds over the weekend.
Carlisle said that Ledo will continue to go back and forth but that it will be different from last year.
“He’s improving all the time.Last year was challenging for him. He was going back and forth to the D-League and traveling on a lot of trips. This year, we’re going to try to keep it so he plays home games (with the Legends) and doesn’t have to go out on some of those wild road trips to obscure places as a reward for everything he’s done,” Carlisle told the Dallas News.
“We knew this was going to be a long-term development situation. He’s made real strides and in the big picture, for what we envisioned, he’s on schedule and maybe even ahead of schedule.”
Mavericks Lose to Shorthanded Pacers
DALLAS—Donald Sloan showed his hometown fans how he has bolstered the depleted Indiana Pacers.
Sloan scored 29 points and seven Pacers scored in double figures in a 111-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night.
Sloan, who played at nearby Seagoville High School, fell only two points short of the career high that he set Nov. 5 against Washington. He earned a starting spot with Indiana’s roster decimated by injuries and is averaging 13.4 points after never exceeding 5.5 in his three previous NBA seasons.
“I never doubted myself whether I was in the D-League, China, wherever, not even dressing half the time,” Sloan said. “I was always told, ‘You’re going to get a legitimate opportunity to show what you can do.’ When that opportunity comes, you’ve just got to show.”
Pacers coach Frank Vogel having Sloan as the starting point guard is a big reason why Indiana has been able to weather troubles down the stretch in games like it did against the Mavericks.
The Pacers led the entire second half, and set a season high in points and equaled their season high in field-goal percentage (48.1). They went into the game ranked 28th in the NBA averaging 90.9 points per game and hadn’t cracked triple figures since beating Philadelphia in their opener 103-91.
The Pacers got a double-double from Luis Scola (14 points, 11 rebounds). They played without center Roy Hibbert, who sprained his left ankle Saturday, adding to Indiana’s injury woes.
Paul George was lost for the season in August with a broken leg while David West (ankle) and George Hill (bruised knee) have yet to play this season.
“They’re getting an opportunity,” Vogel said of his healthy players. “They’ve stayed confident, they’re working on their game and they’re taking advantage of that. They’ve been rewarded for their hard work.”
The Mavericks, who have lost two straight for the first time this season, were led by Monta Ellis with 24 points.
Dirk Nowitzki added 22 points and team-high 11 rebounds.
Indiana built a 98-86 lead with 8:28 to play on a 3-pointer by Damjan Rudez, but Dallas began to chip away at the lead. The Mavericks scored the next seven points and held the Pacers scoreless for 4:30. But Indiana outscored Dallas 10-5 the rest of the way with three-pointers by Sloan and Rodney Stuckey putting the game out of reach.
Dallas, which went into the game leading the league averaging 109.9 points, hit only one field goal over the final 7:17.
“You can’t always try to outscore the other team every single night,” said Mavericks center Tyson Chandler, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2011-12. “Some nights, you’re going to rely on your defense.”
“When you get outscored in every quarter, that’s a demolition,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “It was a physical demotion.”
TIP-INS
Pacers: Vogel said he’s unsure of Hibbert’s status for Wednesday’s game at Houston. . Three of Indiana’s starters Monday had fewer than 16 career NBA starts going into this season.
Mavericks: Owner Mark Cuban graduated from Indiana University but said he didn’t attend Pacers games then and only went to Market Square Arena for a Beach Boys concert.
UP NEXT:
Indiana visits San Antonio on Wednesday.
The Mavericks will host the Knicks on Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
