The Mavericks were eliminated from the NBA Cup on Tuesday night after the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated them 118-104. This ended Dallas’ seven-game winning streak. Naji Marshall and Klay Thompson both had 19 points to lead Dallas, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Mavericks to 39 points on the Oklahoma City side.

Kyrie Irving quickly got Dallas going in the first quarter when he hit a three-pointer, drove to the basket for a left-handed layup and then threw the ball in the corner for a three-pointer from Klay Thompson. Oklahoma City quickly countered that hot Maverick start with 13 consecutive points and forced Dallas to talk about it. Not only did the Mavericks provide an answer of their own, but they did so in stunning fashion, giving up 11 points to the Thunder’s two in the next minute and a half. The final five minutes combined sloppy play (seven Dallas turnovers), poor decision-making and sloppy shooting, resulting in a 32-24 lead for Oklahoma City after one quarter.

The second quarter continued the Mavericks’ early sloppiness before Spencer Dinwiddie and Irving steadied the ship. The deficit for Dallas remained between three and six for most of the second quarter as the teams delivered back-and-forth contested jump shots. If you hadn’t looked at the score, you would have thought Dallas was 15 points behind. Despite all the mistakes, the Mavericks were only down by three points at halftime (57:54).

Although the numbers were encouraging for Dallas to turn things around in the second half, the Thunder stepped on the Mavericks’ necks after halftime and quickly built an 11-point lead before Jason Kidd did the impossible and called a timeout. The onslaught continued into the second half of the third quarter as the Thunder kept pushing, getting smarter and outrunning Dallas, taking a 16-point lead with just over four minutes left. In the final four minutes, Dallas cut the lead to 12, but Oklahoma City closed the quarter with a pair of baskets and a three-pointer from Isaiah Joe that put them up 90-73.

The Thunder quickly jumped out to a 20-point lead early in the final frame, but Dallas delivered the hardest hit of the game to answer. A couple of Gafford layups and a couple of Irving threes got the Mavericks right back into the game as they got within 10 with 8:55 to play. As much fun as the Mavericks had for much of the fourth quarter, they could never quite close the deficit and Oklahoma City held on for the 118-104 win.

Here are three thoughts on a disappointing Mavericks loss:

Naji Marshall is back

Marshall was one of the few bright spots of the night and kept Dallas in the game at times. It was his first action since November 30, but it didn’t look like he missed a beat. Marshall was 7 of 11 from the floor, including 2 of 4 from three, and had a steal to add. It was great to see him back in a Mavericks uniform with the same impact he had before he got sick.

Unpack, unpack, watch the ball

Dallas turned the ball over 19 times, resulting in a 36 (!) point deficit on Oklahoma City’s turnovers. That’s almost a point per minute that Dallas gave up due to a mishap. Additionally, every turnover felt like a tremendous overload from the Mavericks’ passers on missed home runs. The Mavericks are historically a low-turnover team when Luka Doncic plays, so these self-imposed handicaps stuck out like a sore thumb. This was a game lost on the sidelines, and while Dallas was careless in giving the ball away, they also weren’t doing things that players of all levels learn in kindergarten. Shutting out shooters and boxing them out are two cornerstones of defense, and the Mavericks have consistently failed to do both. Regardless of whether this game actually mattered or the NBA Cup spawned it, the game felt worthy of a major effort. The Mavericks disagreed.

Luka Doncic has to set the tone

When your superstar comes out and turns the ball over three times in the first quarter, two of which were full-court passes that came up a yard short, that shows the rest of the team that they can be sloppy too. The carelessness and lack of aggression that Luka Doncic showed early on, as well as the poor shot selection (he was 1 of 7 in the first half), reverberated throughout the team and the Mavericks couldn’t turn the shot over until it was too late. This was a nationally televised game against a team with playoff history. It would have been nice if Doncic had come out with a sense of urgency. He didn’t and the Mavericks lost the game before it even started.

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