Game 11: Dallas Mavericks (5-5) vs. Golden State Warriors (8-2) | 9:00pm CST

[Chicagojk]

Just another tough loss. Some positives though. Grimes will his best run of the year. Hardy with a great first half. Is there room for both when everyone healthy? Regardless, both will need to put some good games together. It seems like Kidd is looking for someone to be consistent with those minutes between Grimes, Hardy and Dinwiddie (and eventually Exum). Who capitalizes on those opportunities? Having Lively back is really nice. Not a great game from him but you can see it. Having him be an outlet with the ball in the half court offense should really add wrinkles to the offense. Luka was great in the first half. I still think his lack of movement is really limiting him. Credit for him to still being able to be productive while being limited. Although, this team isn't going anywhere if he can't move better.

I said this in preseason and I think it holds true. Marshall does a lot of good things. At the same time, he can be frustrating at times. I think he will work out, but definitely a different player than Jones. I do think we missed the Jones type player during the stretch from last year. Let's see if Marshall can get settled into his role. The team really needs that one guy who takes charges. Every team needs one.

I just feel like the Mavs are just missing a few things each game. Maybe a few extra wide open misses from the three that the other team hits. A few offensive rebounds they give that the other team takes advantage of. A few lazy or just missed rotations that allows 5-6 easy baskets throughout the game. A few heat check probably not the best shot attempts that lead to fast breaks to the other team. A few loose balls that the Mavs got last year that they aren't getting now. Maybe this is true for every team, but I see these pop up in every game. Several of them and then you look back at a close loss and think what if.....

While I think Kidd typically does experiment early in the season, I really think they are really trying to win these games. Look at Kyrie and Luka minutes. That is the frustrating part because you know there will be stretches when both miss games. I thought the Mavs would be better positioned to survive short term games misses from Luka and Kyrie. Right now, I am not feeling that.