MEMPHIS, Tenn. _ The Mavericks were on the brink of a difficult two-night sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies.
But it's hard to pull that off when you can't get the ball in the basket at crunch time.
A dry spell on offense combined with Mike Conley scoring nine of 10 Memphis points after the Mavericks went ahead briefly, doomed the Mavericks to a 96-91 defeat Thursday at FedEx Forum.
The Mavericks fell to 1-5 after starting the season with six games in nine nights.
It took the luster off a key night for Dirk Nowitzki. Milestones come on almost a nightly basis for him. On Thursday, it was his 1,400th NBA game. And it only seemed like all of them were in the first 10 days of this season.
The Mavericks' busy schedule has been tough, but you wouldn't know it when Nowitzki (14 points) canned a 3-pointer with 5 minutes to play that drew the Mavericks within a point. He and J.J. Barea, who made three free throws moments later to put the Mavericks up 86-84, tried to will the Mavericks to their second win of the year, but Mike Conley scored on a 3-pointer and a layup to put Memphis up 89-86.
Even though Conley missed two free throws with 35 seconds left, the Mavericks could not get the ball in the basket often enough in the final moments.
The Mavericks trailed by 22 in the first half, when they were getting manhandled and looked a step slow.
But they chopped that deficit down to 82-80 with 7 minutes to play and had a chance to take the lead. Barea's 3-pointer _ he'd just made two to fuel the comeback _ hit the front rim.
Still, the Mavericks were right where they needed to be to pull off a two-night sweep of the Grizzlies.
Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while Conley finished with 22 points.
Harrison Barnes scored a team-high 22 points for the Mavericks.
