The Sports Xchange
Nov 29, 2017
DALLAS -- DeMarre Carroll scored 22 points and the Brooklyn Nets finished off a winning road trip by slipping past the Dallas Mavericks 109-104 on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.
Carroll, back in the lineup after missing one game with an upper respiratory infection, knocked down 7 of 14 shots as Brooklyn (8-13) went 2-1 on a three-game trek in the Western Conference.
Carroll scored 15 in the third quarter in only his second 20-point game this season. The injury-ravaged Nets also received 19 points and six assists from Spencer Dinwiddie. Trevor Booker was a load inside with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Caris LeVert scored 13 off the bench.
Brooklyn, down 10 points early, led throughout the second half but could never pull away in a nip-and-tuck affair. Going to the line with a two-point lead with 10.5 seconds left, Joe Harris (11 points) made the first free throw and missed the second.
Carroll helped kept the ball alive and the Nets got the ball back. Dinwiddie was fouled and missed both foul shots, but Booker tipped out the second miss to Dinwiddie. This time he made both and iced the win.
Brooklyn also snapped a four-game losing streak against the Mavs, who fell to 5-17 after their second loss in a row.
Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Dirk Nowitzki had 10 points and seven boards. Dwight Powell had 14 points and rookie Dennis Smith Jr. scored 10.
Mavs rookie Maxi Kleber came out firing and hit his season high before the first quarter was done with 12 points. The power forward from the same German hometown as Nowitzki (Wurzburg) finished with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 2-4 from beyond the arc, to better his previous scoring high of 11.
The Nets return to Brooklyn to start a home-and-home Saturday with Atlanta, before heading to Mexico City for games against Oklahoma City and Miami.
Dallas continues its three-game homestand with Saturday's visit by the Los Angeles Clippers.
NOTES: Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson pondered the possibility of a winning road trip before the game. "It would be a real boost for our season," he said. "We'd really get some good mojo going into the weekend." ... Nets G Allen Crabbe (sore lower back) and F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (sprained right ankle) were out. ... Mavs C Salah Mejri left the game after banging his left knee in the first period. He returned in the second half. ... Dallas dropped to 3-10 at home.