DALLAS — No Luka Dončić? No Klay Thompson?
That was no problem for the short-handed Dallas Mavericks, who carved up the Knicks on the eve of Thanksgiving.
The Knicks could not recover from an ice cold start in Wednesday’s 129-114 loss in Dallas, during which they shot just 26.5% from the field in the first half.
The Knicks went 4-for-21 (19.0%) — including 0-for-8 from 3-point range — during the first quarter, after which they trailed, 28-15.
It only got worse in the second quarter, when the Mavericks’ lead ballooned to 24 shortly after OG Anunoby missed an uncontested alley-oop dunk that served as a perfect encapsulation for the Knicks’ rough night.
Anunoby began the game 0-for-11 from the field and finished with eights points, two nights after he scored a career-best 40 in a win over Denver.
Overall, the Knicks started the game 6-for-31 from the field and finished the first half 11-for-42, contributing to the Mavericks’ 60-38 lead at halftime.
It all added up to the Knicks falling to 10-8 this season and to 2-2 on their five-game road trip.
Facing his former team, Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 37 points and seven assists. It was the second time Brunson — who spent his first four NBA seasons with the Mavericks — played in Dallas as an opponent since he signed with the Knicks before the 2022-23 season.
Brunson scored on three straight Knicks possessions late in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 12, but it was too little, too late.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 25 and heard chants of “overrated” from a fan base he faced in the Western Conference Finals over the summer as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, could not miss for much of the evening.
Kyrie Irving made a 30-foot 3-pointer over Anunoby in the first quarter, then drained a similarly difficult pull-up 3-pointer over Josh Hart in the second period. His tough driving lay-up in the waning seconds of the second quarter served as a dagger going into the break.
Irving finished with 23 points on a night Dončić missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained wrist and that Thompson sat with plantar fascia.
But the Mavericks got plenty of production from their role players, too.
Quentin Grimes, whom the Knicks traded away in February, scored a season-high 21 points for Dallas — including a four-point play early in the fourth quarter — and played tough defense on Brunson throughout the night.
Spencer Dinwiddie, formerly of the Nets, scored 21 points off the bench, while Naji Marshall added 24 and P.J. Washington contributed 19.
A second-half surge saved the Knicks from a season-worst shooting night, which remains their 38.6% effort in a loss in Houston earlier this month.