MAVS NEWS: Luka Is Hurt, But is Trudging On | DLive's Mom Passes Away| Maxi OUT

[DallasMaverick]

I like to see both Lively and Gafford as willing, hard working participants who are filling the donut hole that has been in the Mav's defense for years. And Luka/Kyrie/Exum/etc. are rewarding them with lobs and inside passes to allow the big guys to score and fill out their own stat sheet.

One thing I noticed was that Jokic was pretty successful playing bully ball. Pushed either C deep in the paint then either take the shot or pass to a cutting dunker (e.g., Gordon). Worried at one point that DEN would ride that play into a win. Hope our bigs can bulk up some over the off season. But they definitely looked quicker than Jokic, more energy, more bounce, so I'm hopeful going forward that DAL is starting to find the confidence they will need for the playoffs.

Seems like the Mavs were switching on bigs.  So we’d often see Gafford or Lively switching with Maxi, PJ, or Luka. From that standpoint, the extra-big lineup they used at the end makes sense. 

And Jokic shot poorly. Cause-and-effect? Possibly.