MyDallasMavs: Mavs Lose 6th Straight to the Pistons

Dirk has finally returned for good, but the sky isn't looking any brighter for the Mavs.

The Mavs started the season with the best road record of 12-2. Since then, things have gone downhill. They went 0 for 4 on their most recent road trip including losses Indiana, San Antonio, Memphis and Detroit, losing every game by double digits.

Dallas has lost their 6th consecutive game, making it their longest losing streak since 2000.

Chandler sat this game out again due to illness and Haywood started in his place. It was also a last minute decision for Terry to start instead of Stevenson.

The first quarter ended with the Mavs just down by 3, but the second quarter really took a toll on their shooting. It wasn't long until their offense went haywire and the Pistons scored 11 consecutive points putting themselves up 39-28 with 2 minutes left before the half. Being that close to having only 28 points at the half is not a good sign, but the Mavs tried their best to stay close, hitting the last 7 points of the quarter, trailing just 41-37.

This was only Dirk's second game back but he was clearly not the problem, scoring 18 points in the first half and getting ot the free-throw line.

In the third quarter, in addition to their offense, their defense started to crumble. The Pistons kept scoring in the paint while the Mavs were making unsuccessful shots.

By the end of the third quarter, Dirk hit four 3-pointers. The rest of the Mavs were a brutal 0 for 11. At this time, the Mavs were down 70-54.

The Mavericks atrocious defense is what helped the Pistons drive away with the lead. The pistons had 34 points in the 3rd quarter, hitting 16 of 22 shots.

For the rest of the game, the Mavs performance continued to plummet resulting in a 103-89 loss to the Pistons.

Dirk led the Mavericks with 32 points, 5 rebounds an 5 assists. Terry had 17 points, being one of just two players to score in double digits. Kidd had another atrocious shooting night going 0-7 from the field. As for the rest of the starters, Haywood had 6 points 7 rebounds, and Marion had 4 points 7 rebounds.

Five players on the Pistons scored in double digits. Stuckey led with 20 points, Prince: 19, Monroe: 16, Villanueva: 15 and Gordan: 11.

With this loss, the Mavs have dropped to 5th seed, behind the Spurs, Lakers, OKC, and Utah. On Wednesday, the Mavs will go on to face the 2nd seed Lakers at the AAC. This game is very important as is every game from now on. One game is the difference between 4th seed and 5th seed, 3rd seed and 4th seed, and so on.

Whether Chandler will feel better to play that game is not yet known.