The Heat vs. Mavericks game summary is getting better.

The Heat vs. Mavericks game summary is getting better. When their opponent outrebounds them, the Heat cannot win games. Moreover, it was Luca, Luca, Luca. Luca Doncic led the Mavericks in scoring throughout the third quarter and inspired other players to follow suit.

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo both had poor scoring performances. Take a look at this Sunsentinel.com report where Jimmy Butler faced numerous double and triple teams. As I mentioned in my post on our website for the Heat’s second half preview, this was a “morale boosting” game for them.

Point #3 recap: The Mavericks outrebounded the Heat.

Ten offensive rebounds gave the Mavericks sixteen second chance points. Check out this story about Dallas’s rebounding from mavsmoneyball.com. That, there, was the game. Miami was ultimately outrebounded 45–38. Although there wasn’t a significant rebounding advantage, it was sufficient to manage the game’s tempo. Take a look at Ira Winderman, the beat reporter for the Miami Heat, in his “Ask Ira” column here. Kevin Love was a powerful rebounding forward that the Heat missed.

In addition, Winderman speculates that it could have been preferable to add another large man in place of the guards (Delon Wright, Patty Mills).

Second-quarter recap: Luca made a 3-pointer.

Luca Doncic demonstrated his superiority as a player. He made the shots when he took them. Then, with the game close, supporting players like Dante Exum and Kyrie Irving delivered clutch three-pointers to seal the victory.

Take a look at this SI.com recap piece on “Dallas Basketball,” which claims that when Exum joined the game, player communication increased and he contributed to the runs in the third and fourth quarters.

First recap: Heat failed a road test; try again.

The Heat play the Thunder today, so this is an important road trip of two games. The Thunder are very rested, having played in Portland on Wednesday night. Check out this CBSSports.com reprint piece about Gordon Hayward’s Thunder debut in Portland. In the first half of their game against Dallas, Miami looked good; they were making good shots and moving the ball from player to player. They were in the game the entire time and had a late opportunity to win. They’ll be prepared for tonight’s Thunder game.