12-17-2023, 09:15 AM
(12-17-2023, 09:04 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: The group on the floor to start the fourth (and give Luka a much needed rest) was Exum, Curry, THJ, OMax and Powell. They held their own (+2) and gave Luka almost 5 minutes off. If you go back and look at the same period in the first half, the Exum/Curry backcourt (this time with Morris, GWill and THJ) were the ones responsible for turning the game around with a +13 (with an 18-3 run). They also played together (with Luka, Powell and THJ) for a couple of minutes in the first quarter and were +2.
The common denominators in all three of those stints were Exum, Seth and THJ. You wouldn't think that to be a net positive lineup with so little defense on the floor, but it worked.
Exum has now started six games and Dallas is 5-1 (LAL was really the only quality win, but we probably lose that one and some of those other games last season). As a starter, Exum is 17/4.3/5.0 in 30 minutes. His TS% is .743 and he is hitting .560 from 3 (take out the 7 of 9 in that LA game and he's still 7/16 or .437 in the other games). Exum is productive in his non-starts, but his shooting is not good. The confidence of starting (or maybe it is just being relied upon) looks good on him.
The thing that sticks out to me with both Jones and Exum is there ability to do more than wait for an open three on offense and also play solid defense. We haven’t had that in a while. Exum is really great finishing at the rim. One of the areas that may allow him to come off the bench is how he has several instances when the game is loose that he surprises the defense and gets to the rim. If he keeps playing like this though, I would not take him out of the starting lineup.
With Jones he obviously has the high flying part down (see Morris oop…when has our players down that before?). He is also had some nice secondary drives. Both know how to pick their spots while at the same time not take advantage of opportunity when they arrive.