A Few Thoughts on Mavs 110, Raptors 102

[mavsluvr]

These early games has shown me that their first step to take in their NBA maturity as a team is to close out the game strong and keep a lead. They were OK at this tonight. 

I think "OK" is an accurate descriptor. I suppose it must be mentioned that the Mavs were up 14 with 5:14 left in the game. And by 2:08, the lead had shrunk to 2 points. They came back after that, which is commendable. But there is room for another narrative, especially if they hadn't, as you implicitly point out.

[mavsluvr]

Let´s call that mavsluvr appendix:

1) Maxi had a wonderful night. What a game by him. Absolutely destroyed Siakam all night. Even though Maxi´s shot was off tonight, you can´t measure his impact on the game. Also had some nice passes.

2) There should be zero, ZERO doubt that KP,Maxi, DFS, Curry and Luka should be our starting five. All of them should play at least 30 min a game consistently, as they did tonight.

3) KP and Maxi fit so much better together than Powell and KP. Powell is hardly playable right now, hope that changes. (Had argument with user "wuhanjay" (I think that was his name) on the old board about Powell vs. Kleber. I always was in Maxi´s camp, but the difference between the both is so huge right now - I didn´t even expect that.)

4) There were small bursts of beautiful ball-movement with KP on the court. Very encouraging.

5) Wright is a beast. Those hustle plays (offensive boards, steals...) are absolutely neck breaking for the other team.

6) Luka maybe had the best game on the defensive end, I have ever seen by him. Move his feed well, cut off penetration, took a charge.

7) Big Kudos to RC for taking out Luka with 1:30 left in the third and bringing him back with 7:00 left in the fourth. No stubborness, instead a nice and necessary adjustment after what happened against NY. Hope he keeps doing that.

8) Edit: KP did a - to me - suprisingly good job against Gasol. He defended him way, way, way better than Powell. That´s good to know that he can hold his ground against big Cs. Oh saw that Mavsluvr already had that. Nevermind!

Thanks for the appendix, Thukydides!  It is good for you to remind us how much there is to be positive about!

[ItsGoTime]

These early games has shown me that their first step to take in their NBA maturity as a team is to close out the game strong and keep a lead. They were OK at this tonight. 

I think "OK" is an accurate descriptor. I suppose it must be mentioned that the Mavs were up 14 with 5:14 left in the game. And by 2:08, the lead had shrunk to 2 points. They came back after that, which is commendable. But there is room for another narrative, especially if they hadn't, as you implicitly point out.

Yep, they got the win which is great, they gave us a scare, which brings it down to OK.

[mavsluvr]

Thank you, mavsluvr, great to see you back.

Thanks, dcon.

I read your post-game write-up and I watched the 10 min condensed game from League Pass.

My primary observation from the condensed game replay was that I have not seen ball movement like that from the Mavs all season.  This was a relief!  I was growing concerned with the team's growing dependency on Luka to both initiate and finish the offensive plays.  From what I saw, we played a style of bball in this game that I hope we would be progressing to.

Agreed that this is what they are working toward. Glad they are making some progress. If they expect to make a playoff run, they can't just run Luka one on five every time. 

To IGT's comment above about the physicality of the Raptors and our ability to hang in there with them.  I total  agree.  When people were throwing pitchforks about losing to the Knicks, I felt that they were a bad match-up for us since they have too many physical power-forward types.  Before the season started, I was hoping the Mavs would pick up Ed Davis, or the likes thereof, who would complement our main front-court rotation of KP, Maxi and DP.  Yeah, the Mavs want to win with skill and BBIQ, but that does make us vulnerable to certain types of teams, and this has been the case for 15+ years.  I remember us getting punked by the Nuggets (when they were the Thuggets) in the playoffs, any team Matt Barnes was on, etc.  The only time I thought we were the more physical team consistently was the 2010-2011 team when we had lay the wood Haywood, Tough Juice and D-Steve + Tyson Chandler, and Kidd was physical.  The Mavs, namely Donnie, always vies for skill first, regardless of physical stature.

Yes, luckily for the Mavs, the NBA today is much more about skills and speed than power. But there are still a few teams that rely on big, burly guys, and teams like the Mavs might be a little ill-prepared to deal with them. 

Finally, the Raptors.  Man, this team is good.  Just think - they were missing Lowry, Ibaka, and they are still pretty deadly.  Oh, and.. they had 2 guys from last year that were pretty good two - KL and DG.  They were STACKED last year.  It's kinda of a shame that KL left such a good group, would have been interesting to see what they could have done if he stayed.

Agreed. 

[TXBamanut]

Thank you, mavsluvr, great to see you back.

Thanks, dcon.

I read your post-game write-up and I watched the 10 min condensed game from League Pass.

My primary observation from the condensed game replay was that I have not seen ball movement like that from the Mavs all season.  This was a relief!  I was growing concerned with the team's growing dependency on Luka to both initiate and finish the offensive plays.  From what I saw, we played a style of bball in this game that I hope we would be progressing to.

Agreed that this is what they are working toward. Glad they are making some progress. If they expect to make a playoff run, they can't just run Luka one on five every time. 

To IGT's comment above about the physicality of the Raptors and our ability to hang in there with them.  I total  agree.  When people were throwing pitchforks about losing to the Knicks, I felt that they were a bad match-up for us since they have too many physical power-forward types.  Before the season started, I was hoping the Mavs would pick up Ed Davis, or the likes thereof, who would complement our main front-court rotation of KP, Maxi and DP.  Yeah, the Mavs want to win with skill and BBIQ, but that does make us vulnerable to certain types of teams, and this has been the case for 15+ years.  I remember us getting punked by the Nuggets (when they were the Thuggets) in the playoffs, any team Matt Barnes was on, etc.  The only time I thought we were the more physical team consistently was the 2010-2011 team when we had lay the wood Haywood, Tough Juice and D-Steve + Tyson Chandler, and Kidd was physical.  The Mavs, namely Donnie, always vies for skill first, regardless of physical stature.

Yes, luckily for the Mavs, the NBA today is much more about skills and speed than power. But there are still a few teams that rely on big, burly guys, and teams like the Mavs might be a little ill-prepared to deal with them. 

Finally, the Raptors.  Man, this team is good.  Just think - they were missing Lowry, Ibaka, and they are still pretty deadly.  Oh, and.. they had 2 guys from last year that were pretty good two - KL and DG.  They were STACKED last year.  It's kinda of a shame that KL left such a good group, would have been interesting to see what they could have done if he stayed.

Agreed. 

This has the feel of one of those "sports karma" situations where you think that you just upgraded and then find out how good you had it.

[mavsluvr]

Excellent write up! Definitely missed these!

Thanks, LL!

---

You have no idea how much I've missed these recaps. So happy to see them coming back. Thanks again mavsluvr

Thanks, SH. Always enjoy ur comments.

---

These early games has shown me that their first step to take in their NBA maturity as a team is to close out the game strong and keep a lead. They were OK at this tonight. 

I think "OK" is an accurate descriptor. I suppose it must be mentioned that the Mavs were up 14 with 5:14 left in the game. And by 2:08, the lead had shrunk to 2 points. They came back after that, which is commendable. But there is room for another narrative, especially if they hadn't, as you implicitly point out.

Yep, they got the win which is great, they gave us a scare, which brings it down to OK.

exactly

[SportPsychMav]

Mavs have been in every game so far this season, despite all the things that don't go well yet. That's definitely something that's commendable.

[StepBackJay]

What has me so excited ab this game is that the Mavs lineup, especially starters, finally clicked. It felt like a watershed moment to me. Hopefully this becomes a trend.

[mavsluvr]

What has me so excited ab this game is that the Mavs lineup, especially starters, finally clicked. It felt like a watershed moment to me. Hopefully this becomes a trend.

Agree that it is rewarding to watch the chemistry develop.

[SportPsychMav]

What has me so excited ab this game is that the Mavs lineup, especially starters, finally clicked. It felt like a watershed moment to me. Hopefully this becomes a trend.

First quarter against the blazers was excellent, even better than the raps game. Ball movement was superb.

Looked legitimately like the championship Mavs of 2010/11 of the Lakers series.

[mavsluvr]

What has me so excited ab this game is that the Mavs lineup, especially starters, finally clicked. It felt like a watershed moment to me. Hopefully this becomes a trend.

First quarter against the blazers was excellent, even better than the raps game. Ball movement was superb.

Looked legitimately like the championship Mavs of 2010/11 of the Lakers series.

Ah, the championship Lakers series. Had to be one of the dopest Mavs series of all time!