DALLAS_You know times are bleak for the injury-ravaged Dallas Mavericks when they have nights that hearken to the 1990s.
In other words, the franchise's Dark Age.
Friday at American Airlines Center was one of those nights. Dallas fell to Memphis, 80-64, narrowly averting the franchise low for points in a game, 62, set in 1997 against Milwaukee.
With only 41 points through three quarters, Dallas needed a garbage-time 23-point fourth-quarter "spree" and a Nicolas Brussino 3-pointer with 24.8 seconds left to avoid franchise infamy.
The Mavericks' fourth straight defeat dropped them to 2-9, their worst 11-game start since they were 2-9 in the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99. They shot just 28.8-percent, a smidge higher than the franchise-record low of 27.4-percent at Detroit in 1980.
They didn't reach 30 points Friday until 10:29 remained in the third quarter, and the 10 points they scored during the second quarter tied the franchise low for a second period _ something they did on three occasions in the '90s.
"I'm not going to put lipstick on a pig here," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We've got some things we have to deal with."
Namely, a severe shortage of firepower. The Mavericks again were missing four of their top eight rotation players_Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, J.J. Barea and Devin Harris. All four also will miss Saturday's game at Orlando.
Friday's performance was so dismal that fans in the second half lost interest in booing former Maverick Chandler Parsons.
Playing only his sixth game after a delayed return from knee surgery, Parsons scored 12 points in 23 minutes and got the satisfaction of shooting long stares at Mavericks owner Mark Cuban after each of his two third-quarter three-pointers.
"Yeah, it was fun," Parsons said. "I wish I would have played more, honestly, if it wouldn't have been a little out of hand there."
After the game, Cuban stood at midcourt, hands on hips, glaring in Parsons' direction as he left the court. What did Cuban say to Parsons?
"He just said, 'Glad I'm playing' and good to see me back out there," Parsons said. "Obviously, he's frustrated with how their season's going, but they'll bounce back."
It's hard to imagine when that might be, given Dallas' injury woes and upcoming schedule. After Saturday's Orlando game, the Mavericks finish November with games at San Antonio, at home against the Clippers, and at Cleveland.
"I've been through tough stretches with multiple key personnel out before," Carlisle said. "It's very difficult. But as a guy in a key leadership position, it's very important for me to stay positive and keep coaching these guys and keep talking about ways to put us in position to win."
Before Friday's game, Cuban raved about the play of $94.4 million summer acquisition Harrison Barnes. It probably wasn't a coincidence that Cuban did so on a night Parsons, the player whose $94.4 million summer offer Cuban declined to match, was in the arena.
Cuban declared Barnes to be "much better" than the Mavericks thought he would be," specifically mentioning the assertive manner in which Barnes has taken over the offense in Nowitzki's absence.
"He's ready to take the moment," Cuban said. "That's what stars do.
"For a guy who wasn't in that position (at Golden State) taking that responsibility, that's a huge step ... "We think him starting to take that responsibility, that's the silver lining in the storm clouds."
Those storms show no signs of dissipating. Record-wise, this is fast becoming a lost season for the Mavericks. Time to start thinking about positioning for the June draft?
"Like I've said many times, when six teams are racing to the bottom, you don't want to race to the bottom," Cuban said.
"When teams aren't racing to the bottom, which is more like this year, then you play your heart out and win as many games as you can, knowing that your young guys learn how to play to win, then we're still going to have a chance at a good pick if things aren't working."
In other words, the Mavericks might not have to purposely tank to get a high draft pick.
