Do you know that saying about reaching rock bottom, and how, after reaching it, the only way to go is to climb? Well, the Dallas Mavericks are at the bottom of the ocean now, as a six-game losing streak pushed them further out of the Western Conference playoff.
The most recent defeat – a one-point punch to the stomach by a 3-point Devin Booker in the final seconds of the fourth period to give the Phoenix Suns a victory over the Mavericks in the three-game season – was the most recent setback for a team that fell far short of expectations with a quarter of the season in the books, as their margin of error decreases further.
Throughout the losing streak, the lack of energy was the main reason given by players and coaches to explain why the team is fighting. With the centerpiece of the franchise, Luka Doncic saying at one point “now, it looks like we don’t care, honestly, whether we win or not. “Tough – but true – words from the team’s young superstar. A 19-point loss at the hands of Jazz in the second game in a series of two games with Utah exemplified this.
As dark as it looks between 8-13 and 13th in the West entering Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, there are reasons to believe that the Mavs can still get back on track. To begin with, Monday’s game against the Phoenix Suns marked the first time Dallas had its full roster available in 425 days; he last performed that feat on December 4, 2019. The Mavericks were one of the hardest hit teams after a COVID-19 outbreak, leaving five players out for a total of three weeks, all rotating players.
This may sound like an excuse, as several teams throughout the league have had to face similar COVID-19 storms – the Miami Heat, in a similar situation, is only 7 to 13 after winning the East – but Dallas didn’t have much from your list for a significant period of time stifles any continuity or chemistry that this team could have built otherwise, had it not been interrupted by the virus.
Four Mavericks players started in every game they played this season – Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Richardson. However, that group played only three games together, for a total of 44 minutes. It is very difficult to get a sense of each other when important players like them have been on the field for different periods of time.
The lack of chemistry on the floor can result in faults at both ends, which can become extremely expensive. One example is Richardson not fighting hard enough to get around a screen to prevent Porzingis from having to check Booker on the wing during a crucial possession:
This does not mean that the Mavericks are absent from any issues outside of health and chemistry, however. They are close to the bottom of the league in several statistical categories, and have taken a significant step back in their precision shots.
|
Percentage of 3 points |
32.8% |
30th |
|
Rebounds / game |
42.6 |
28th |
|
Offensive evaluation |
109.0 |
21st |
|
Defensive classification |
110.9 |
19th |
|
Assistance percentage |
51.1% |
28th |
|
Opponent’s second chance points |
14.0 |
Day 25 |
A season ago, the Mavericks were the fourth best team in the league in terms of points, generating 1,061 points for possession, according to Synergy Sports Technology. This year, they occupy the 27th position in the same category. Part of this has to do with a personnel change in the off-season, when Dallas switched sniper Seth Curry for Richardson’s bidirectional capabilities. Curry is a plug-and-play guy, someone who can stand out in any environment due to his shooting ability. Curry dropped several big shots for Dallas last season outside Doncic’s drive-and-kicks for an open look.
Richardson, however, is not having the same success. He is launching a career low from the fund (28.6 percent), with many of his mistakes coming in overt attempts. Perhaps he is not used to the amount of space he has given to shoot, considering that last season with Philadelphia only 17 percent of his 3s were opened, compared with 25 percent this season. It is fair to say that he is still feeling his teammates, besides that he is not the only player fighting in the depths.
Finney-Smith saw a regression back to what he normally films beyond the arc (32.2 percent), after setting a career record of 37.6 percent in 3-point territory a season ago. Porzingis, who despite having played 10 games so far this season, has not yet found his touch of substance. He’s consistently hitting shots in front of the rim, an indicator that he’s still struggling to get his legs under him.
Then there is Doncic, who, despite his stellar numbers across the board (27.3 points, 9.4 assists, 9.0 rebounds), is shooting just 29.3 percent beyond the arc in seven attempts per game. There are 28 guys in the league who try seven or more 3s per game, Doncic is last among them in percentage of pitches.
The lid cannot stay in the basket forever, however. At some point, Doncic and the Mavericks should start shooting down shots. It’s not like the guys aren’t making good plays – 19 percent of their 3-point attempts come in open looks. They are simply not doing them. Doncic is putting his teammates in a great position to place points on the board, considering he ranks second in the league in potential assists (17.8), squeezed between James Harden and Chris Paul, and third in the league in assist points created (23.5). If teammates started making only half the shots created with Doncic’s passes, Dallas would be in a much better position.
If there is a moral victory to be achieved in the current fall of Dallas, it is that four of his six defeats were decided by six or less points. It would be a different story if the Mavs were lost in each of these defeats, but they remain in the games – sometimes leading in them – but were unable to add up to four solid quarters.
Dallas is not without criticism, especially considering the amount of pre-season enthusiasm that surrounded the team – with many people predicting that this team would end up in the top five in the West. But there is still time to accumulate victories and get back to the playoff before hasty decisions are made. However, now is the time for the Mavs to start collecting victories. The next month of your schedule consists of opponents who have a combined record of 119-127 (0.483 win percentage). If they don’t profit from it, their chances of making it to the playoffs will be drastically reduced and we can start talking about who needs to be negotiated to improve this team.