Turning Points: Pacers 134, Mavericks 127

The Dallas Mavericks took the court on the second night of a back-to-back to face the Indiana Pacers on Monday night. Shortly before tip-off the Mavs received the unfortunate news that Derek Lively II would be a scratch after injuring his shoulder during warm-ups. Dallas came out slow, quickly falling into a 15-2 hole, but managed to work their way back into the game by the end of the first quarter. The game had some exciting back-and-forth moments the rest of the way, but ultimately the Mavericks gave up way too many threes and way too many layups in a disappointing loss . It's frustrating to think how the outcome may have been different if Lively were available, but "what-ifs" are irrelevant at this point. Here we will recap game sequences that may get overlooked in the moment, but which nonetheless have a critical impact on momentum and the final outcome.

Turning Point: Stopping the bleeding At the 8:21 mark in the first quarter, the Mavs called timeout after falling into a 15-2 deficit. Coming out of the timeout, Luka hit a three-pointer which seemingly woke the Mavs up a bit. Over the next three minutes and seventeen seconds the Mavs reeled off a 13-6 run to cut the lead to six. This game could have gotten very ugly, very fast had it not been for capitalizing out of the timeout and putting together a push.

Turning Point: Getting back on defense With 6:44 remaining in the second quarter, P.J. Washington missed a great look from three that would have brought the Mavs to within one. Rather than get down on himself, he immediately followed that play with a blocked shot on the other end on what otherwise would have been a layup. He managed to keep the lead from extending and under two minutes later, the game was tied.

Turning Point: Taking the lead With 2:34 left on the clock before the half, Kyrie Irving hit a difficult three to give the Mavs their first lead of the game. This capped off a back-and-forth sequence where the game was tied or separated by either one or two points. A minute later, Irving hit another three following a deuce by Indiana, giving Dallas two-point lead. Although they ended the half down by four, finally breaking through in a game in which they trailed for so long felt like a sigh of relief and surely left the Pacers wondering for a moment.

Turning Point: Coming out of halftime The start of the third quarter got sloppy quickly. Within the first four-and-a-half minutes, the Mavs were down nine. Two missed chippies by P.J. Washington did not help, as they not only resulted in no points for the Mavs, but allowed the Pacers to get out in transition. At this point in the game, the Pacers were outscoring the Mavs 20-5 in fast-break points.

Turning Point: A run to end the third With 3:10 remaining in the third quarter, the Mavs were down by eight. Myles Turner was getting anything he wanted and the Mavs had just given up a three to Tyrese Haliburton. Undeterred, the Mavs ended the quarter on a 9-2 run. Rather than facing what could easily have turned into a double-digit lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Mavs were instead only down one.

Turning Point: Closing the fourth quarter The game was knotted at 116 with 5:47 remaining in the game. The Pacers then rattled off eight-straight points, six of which came on either layups or free throws. Gafford stopped the bleeding, but the Pacers scored again after getting an offensive rebound. Out of a timeout, the Mavs scored on a pretty Kyrie drive, but then gave up a three on the other end. Despite another little burst, the Mavs simply ran out of time to recover in this one.

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