Game 77: Golden State Warriors (42-34) vs Dallas Mavericks (46-30)

[SwisherPrice]

A big reason why the Mavs are finally finding success is because they are moving away from their old strategy of building a roster full of limited players whose offensive skills are mainly defined by their 3 point shot. That was their philosophy for years with the traditional "3 and D" players like DFS, Bullock, and bringing in Grant Williams. Kleber is still around but he's playing less minutes and not taking as many threes anymore, which is good. He's actually at his best when he's pump-faking and attacking. That's also why Kidd has finally realized that the THJ Experience should be reduced and he's not a big part of the offense anymore.

Instead, they have upgraded with versatile players who can do more than just shoot threes. PJ, DJJ, Exum - their games are not reliant on the three ball but they are all still able to make those shots to make defenses pay. Will they have cold stretches? Sure, that happens to everyone and will happen in the playoffs too. But when that happens, they have the ability to still get buckets (or connect the offense to get easy buckets for others) so that they aren't non-factors.

From a center standpoint, it's not even close anymore! Before, the Mavs only cared about having a stretch big like Kleber or Porzingis or a rim-runner like Powell (and the failed JaVale McGee signing). But with Gafford and Lively, they have 2 centers who can catch the ball in traffic and score in the paint on semi-contested shots while also providing the same rim-running ability. And Gafford is also showing some passing ability as he's averaging 3 assists in the last 10 games.

I think in previous years there was too much of a reliance on looking at players' 3-pt shooting stats thinking they would be a good fit here. But then they would overlook more versatile players who may not be as good of a shooter statistically but better in other important areas that the Mavs lacked in.