Dallas, TX

Mavericks Avoid Late Comeback from OKC and Win 121-119

Published

2 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Mavericks Avoid Late Comeback from OKC and Win 121-119

The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up its third loss of the season to the Dallas Mavericks, losing 121-119.

In a game where the Thunder struggled all night, they gave themselves the opportunity to win with under a minute to play. The ball rolled the right way for them and multiple players hit clutch shots, but it was not enough in the end.

OKC’s inability to rebound the basketball put them behind 66-58 at halftime and in a hole in general the entirety of the matchup. Maverick center Daniel Gafford grabbed six first-half rebounds and finished with 12 total. A combination of him and forward PJ Washington allowed the Mavericks to out-rebound the Thunder 53 to 29 the entire night.

The Thunder trailed 39-34 at the first quarter’s end. Gilgeous-Alexander closed the half out with a plethora of free throws and rookie guard Ajay Mitchell found his mid-range spots to add on. A combination of Kyrie Irving, Naji Marshall and Jaden Hardy helped keep the score close for the Mavericks by the first quarter’s end.

OKC and Dallas went back and forth the entire first quarter until the Mavericks pulled away late. They maintained that lead for the rest of the second quarter too, with Irving, Marshall and guard Quentin Grimes all contributing. Irving finished with 10 first-half points and Marshall with 11 off the bench.

In need of a second-half spark, OKC star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked to improve off of his 20-point first-half performance. Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe started the OKC scoring off with a triple and Lu Dort added to the total by getting to the free-throw line as did Gilgeous-Alexander in the mid-range area.

The X-factor off the bench for the Mavericks was Marshall. As soon as he entered the game at any point, he impacted scoring and the intensity on the defensive side of the ball. He only scored once in the third quarter but impacted the game in other ways,

A surprising impact player for OKC was first-round rookie Dillon Jones. He finished the night with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting, the best performance of his young career. He scored five points and threw two assists in the third quarter resulting in a 97-92 lead in favor of Dallas.

With Luka Doncic out for the Mavericks, Dallas needed others to step up in his absence. Alongside Marshall, Jaden Hardy stood out as a scorer. He finished with 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting and did an excellent job getting to the rim and creating space on mid-range attempts. Both Marshall and Hardy would prove valuable assets down the stretch for Dallas.

In a stretch of play where Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench, Dallas managed to take advantage at the beginning of the fourth quarter stretching its lead to 11 points. Fortunately for the Mavericks, the scoring gap was too much to overcome, even with Gilgeous-Alexander in the game.

The story of the night for the Mavericks was its bench production. They got another assist from the depths of the bench, this time from Spencer Dinwiddie. He scored all of his points in the fourth quarter and extended the Maverick lead, finishing with 120 points in total.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 36 points on the night, coupled with two rebounds and eight assists. His third 30-point performance of the season was not enough to overcome Dallas. The same reason OKC has seen an uptick in narrow wins or losses in the last four games has been the lack of rebounding. As long as Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein are unavailable, rebounding will be a challenge.

The Thunder trailed by eight points with around a minute remaining and in need of stops, forced multiple. Gilgeous-Alexander nailed a triple with 25 seconds remaining to narrow the deficit to three and forced and recovered possession after a late jump ball, but could not tie the score as the clock hit zero. The late comeback attempt was heroic, but simply not enough.

OKC plays next against the San Antonio Spurs at 8:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 19 on the road in San Antonio.

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Dallas, TX

Cowboys-Texans expert predictions: Can Dallas keep things close on national stage?

Published

10 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Press Room

Cowboys-Texans expert predictions: Can Dallas keep things close on national stage?

How far have expectations fallen for the 3-6 Dallas Cowboys?

After entering the season with hopes of repeating as NFC East champs and going on a playoff run, they now host the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football having not scored a touchdown at home in nearly two months. It’ll be a backup quarterback leading Dallas into the game, where a realistic best-case-scenario for the Cowboys might be to just keep things from getting embarrassment on a national stage.

Can Dallas keep it close against C.J. Stroud and the Texans? Could Cooper Rush and crew somehow muster an upset? The Dallas Morning News’ columnists and beat writers make their predictions below.

Tim Cowlishaw

The countdown is on. Dallas has gone four quarters without a touchdown, 10 quarters without a rushing touchdown. Are the Cowboys — outscored 138-60 in this four-game losing streak — likely to get either one against the third-ranked defense in the league? Biggest problem for Dallas (there are many) is a minus-10 in the takeaway department. Not good when you’re hosting a team that picked off Jared Goff five times last week. But Houston’s offensive line will have its own serious issues with the Dallas pass rush in this low-scoring affair.

Texans, 13, Cowboys 7

Damon Marx

The Cowboys still can’t run the ball, nor stop the run. Now, they can’t pass it either. The pass rush awoke against the Eagles with the return of Micah Parsons, and that’s the Cowboys’ best path to keep this close. Perhaps they’ll get a boost from the Monday Night Football buzz. That won’t last, however, as Dallas surrenders in the third quarter once again. The Cowboys won’t get their first home win of the season this week.

Texans 26, Cowboys 13

David Moore

When this game kicks off Monday night the Cowboys will have gone 57 days since scoring their last touchdown at AT&T Stadium. Not a misprint. We’re talking 57 days. Here’s a declaration: that drought will end. The Dallas offense will find the end zone at least once. Maybe twice. Dream big.

Texans 27, Cowboys 19

Abraham Nudelstejer

The motivation of not getting embarrassed on national television could be a factor in the Cowboys putting up some resistance against the Texans on Monday Night Football. There’s no reason for Dallas to think it can snap its four-game losing streak, but there are times when pride and self-respect can balance the odds. Even if they put together an inspired performance, the Cowboys are in for a long night. C.J. Stroud will dissect the Dallas defense with his passing game, and Joe Mixon won’t be stopped when he carries the ball. The Texans will get an easy win.

Texans 30, Cowboys 10

Kevin Sherrington

Remember when football games between Dallas and Houston were fun and fueled a great intrastate rivalry? Me, neither. This should be like the rest. Best hope for the Cowboys: The pass rush that finally showed up against the Eagles reappears against a Houston offensive line that’s yielded 12 sacks in the last two weeks. Best hope for the fan base? Another loss, another rung scaled in the draft.

Texans 27, Cowboys 16

Calvin Watkins

The Texans need this victory badly. It’s a franchise going places. But the team from Houston struggles on the road. They should get their act together. Let’s see if Rico Dowdle can get 20 carries Monday night.

Texans 21, Dallas 10

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Dallas, TX

Dallas City Council, don’t revive short-term rentals fight

Published

17 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Press Room

Dallas City Council, don’t revive short-term rentals fight

There’s a move afoot at Dallas City Hall to reopen the painful wound over short-term rentals, to bring it all back for public debate.

Some Dallas City Council members who were against the city’s ban, passed more than a year ago, are pointing to an ongoing temporary injunction barring its enforcement as evidence it should be revisited.

They say more legally bulletproof restrictions should be hashed out and approved so the city can get on with reaping millions of dollars in revenue it’s losing while waiting for a protracted legal battle to play out.

We disagree. Even as we reiterate our concerns about the legality of Dallas’ short-term rental restrictions, we haven’t forgotten the fight over them was one of the ugliest seen at City Hall in recent memory — and dragged on for years.

The City Council knew full well in June 2023 that the short-term rental rules they were adopting would land them in court, and opponents quickly sued. But the council was willing to take that risk on behalf of the thousands of homeowners pleading for relief from the citywide smattering of properties they said were harming their neighborhoods. The city shouldn’t abandon them now.

There’s another good reason to let the legal fight continue, at least for now. The city will glean valuable insight from the various trial and appellate court rulings along the way to help it devise a more legally sound set of restrictions going forward if necessary. The 5th District Court of Appeals is mulling a request by the city to lift the temporary injunction, and its ruling will serve as a guidepost.

In any event, we’re loath to see this highly emotional issue go back before the City Plan Commission and the Dallas City Council for rounds of heated public hearings, which may be necessary if the city starts over.

Dallas City Council member Chad West made a compelling case for reviving the short-term rentals debate earlier this month at the council’s Government Performance and Financial Management Committee meeting.

While the city remains handcuffed from enforcing its registration fee program and zoning restrictions limiting short-term rentals in nonresidential areas, these properties continue to operate citywide, West noted. City staff estimated that there are about 3,500 short-term rentals in the city, but less than half of them have registered to pay the 9% hotel occupancy taxes as required.

West said the city also stands to lose millions more if the issue isn’t resolved before the FIFA World Cup games in 2026. Meanwhile, the city spends nearly $1 million on its new short-term rental enforcement team, which for the time being has been diverted to other code enforcement matters.

“I think we admit we got it wrong and we go back,” West told the committee. But that brought a sharp rebuke from council member Cara Mendelsohn: “We debated this ad nauseam. I can’t believe that you are wanting to do this again.”

Council member Paula Blackmon also resisted: “It is not a good public policy approach. I just don’t think there is a clear reason to bring it back.”

Not deterred, West said he’d consider asking that the matter be briefed by the city’s lawyers in a council executive session. For now, that’s where it belongs. Behind closed doors.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

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Dallas, TX

Cowboys’ home incompetence is so bad no other sports fan can relate

Published

1 day ago

November 16, 2024

Press Room

Cowboys’ home incompetence is so bad no other sports fan can relate

Mike Tyson isn’t the only Mike who has failed to come out of AT&T Stadium with a win in 2024. Mike McCarthy’s Dallas Cowboys have yet to win a home game during the NFL season, so it has been a year of misery for Cowboys Nation.

Even the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson organizers proved to have more competence at home than Jerry Jones by simply closing some curtains.

But, back to the home losses.

MORE: Dallas Cowboys roasted by ESPN College GameDay for being ‘train wreck’

The Cowboys are the only team across the four major American sports league that have not won a home game in 2024. Yes, out of all of the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL teams in North America, the Cowboys are the only winless team of the year with one-and-a-half months to go.

This is amazing. And yes, the NYG beat PHi at MetLife last January, so this chart is accurate. pic.twitter.com/5gXeqmgx9e
— Craig Miller (@junior_miller) November 16, 2024

Now, before we get too carried away, it is important to put things into perspective. With the amount of games played in MLB, the NBA, and NHL, it would be virtually impossible to go winless at home.

MORE: Jerry Jones takes harder hits than Jake Paul after underwhelming fight

But it certainly rubs salt into wounds of every Cowboys fan.

Dallas’ first opportunity to break their 2024 curse comes on Monday, November 18, against the Houston Texans.

Dallas Cowboys fans react during the fourth quarter of their team’s loss to the Green Bay Packers during their Wild Card playoff game. / Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

If they fail, there will only be three more opportunities: against the lowly division rival New York Giants on Thanksgiving, the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football on December 9, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 22, which is also currently set to be a primetime showdown on Sunday Night Football.

So buckle up, Cowboys fans.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Cowboys from Dallas Cowboys on SI —

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