DALLAS — Allen Crabbe had the breakout game he and the Brooklyn Nets have been waiting for, with his deep shooting keeping Brooklyn close down the stretch before dropping a 119-113 final to the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
With the Nets trailing 95-87 in the fourth quarter, Crabbe knocked down four straight 3-pointers in under four minutes to bring Brooklyn within 103-99 with 4:30 to go. A Jarrett Allen dunk made it a two-point game before Harrison Barnes answered with a 3-pointer for the Mavs to start a 10-3 run that gave Dallas control of the game, up 113-104 with 49.8 seconds to go
Crabbe finished with a season-high 27 points while hitting 7-of-11 3-point attempts and shooting 10-for-16 overall.
Ed Davis also had a season-high with 17 points plus nine rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie had 19 points and seven assists and D'Angelo Russell had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Davis and Crabbe kept the Nets in it during a first half in which everybody else around them shot 9-for-33. Davis entered less than 90 seconds into the game when Allen drew two quick fouls and finished the first quarter with 11 points, shooting 5-for-5 with six rebounds, including three offensive boards put back for scores. That brought the Nets into the second quarter down 34-32 while shooting 50 percent from the field.
But that touch slipped away in the second quarter. Brooklyn missed 11 of its first 14 shots to start the period as Dallas opened the quarter on a 19-7 run to take a 53-39 lead with four minutes left in the half.
It was Crabbe, who had opened the game with two quick threes, who responded. He scored seven straight points, dropping in two runners followed by his third three of the game in four attempts to bring the Nets within 53-46 before Dallas took a 61-50 lead into halftime.
Crabbe had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting at the break, but the Nets shot just 7-for-22 and 2-for-11 from 3-point range in the second quarter.
The Nets opened up the second half on a 12-5 run to get within 66-62 on Joe Harris' drive for a three-point play, and Dinwiddie's 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds remaining in the third quarter sent Brooklyn into the fourth trailing just 85-81.
A Dinwiddie drive and a Davis putback got the Nets even at 85 in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the first time not trailing since the early minutes. After JJ Barea scored for Dallas, it was Davis again inside off a Shabazz Napier feed. But Devin Harris scored eight straight points for the Mavs to give Dallas a 95-87 lead with 8:40 to go before Crabbe went on his tear to put the Nets back in it.
UP NEXT
The Nets are back in Brooklyn to get a look at both sides of the big Jimmy Butler trade over the Thanksgiving weekend. They've got the Timberwolves at noon on Friday and then the Sixers. The four-game home stretch continues with the Jazz next Wednesday and the Grizzlies next Friday.