Nets Can't Rally Late as Mavericks Weather Storm

The Brooklyn Nets fell to the Dallas Mavericks 123-114 on Tuesday, as both teams headed into Brooklyn earlier in the day after a blizzard kept both teams from flying into the area the day before.

The Mavericks got off to a fast start despite the complications, outscoring the Nets 76-64 in the first half.

With Cooper Flagg out of the lineup, Dallas had to rely heavily on its veterans. Klay Thompson helped Dallas maintain a healthy lead early in the second quarter, drilling three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the quarter.

Khris Middleton was limited to six points before exiting the game with a right shoulder stinger, but his veteran IQ helped balance the floor in the minutes he was on the court, and there were a couple of instances in which he, like other Mavs vets, was able to leverage their experience against a young Nets team.

Though veterans can certainly gain an advantage on young opponents using their IQ alone, Nets coach Jordi Fernández was not ready to buy the lack of experience on the team's roster as an excuse.

"It's just experience, but I thought our guys fought, so I'll never look at that like that, and I will never use age as an excuse," Fernández said. "Those guys are very good. They've proved it for many years, but our young guys are very good, and they'll go through it, and they'll give themselves a chance. And they did tonight. So I'm proud of the way they fought."

Terance Mann, the team's de facto veteran, helped give the Nets a spark in the fourth quarter, scoring eight straight points to cut their deficit to 104-102 with 7:42 left in the game.

However, Dallas capitalized on some of Brooklyn's defensive breakdowns, getting points to go in the paint with ease.

The Michael Porter Jr. and Nic Claxton connection was a bright spot, as both continuously found each other on alley-oop or cutting actions near the rim.

However, big performances from Marvin Bagley III and Naji Marshall helped mitigate MPJ and Clax's contributions on the board, and Dallas' veteran experience seemingly gave the Mavs an advantage at the end.

Though former Nets star Kyrie Irving didn't play as he recovers from a torn ACL, he was seen supporting his teammates on the bench and spreading love the Brooklyn way after the game, taking selfies with a mob of fans and signing autographs.