A Few Thoughts on Mavs 120, Suns 113

[mavsluvr]

Mavs Eclipse Suns in Chippy Contest 

The Mavericks took another step, showing that they can respond to a physical team. The young Suns got off to a scorching start this season, but have cooled off a bit lately. Their 2018 draftee DeAndre Ayton, taken before Luka, was on the bench serving a 25-game drug suspension. His teammates made a dogged attempt to ugly up the game, but the Mavericks eventually put the Suns efforts in the shade. 


Game Story

This match was, as they say, a game of runs. 

First half. The two teams sparred in the first quarter, before the Mavs went on a 12-4 tear to end the frame at 31-25. Dallas had 20 points in the paint in the period, thanks largely to Luka slicing through the lane, and scoring or assisting on each of the Mavericks' 12 field goals. The visiting Mavs built a 12-point lead in the second, before surrendering a 5-14 barrage to go into the locker room at 53-50. The rowdy period produced double technicals on Porzingis and Baynes for mixing it up during a timeout. 

Third quarter. The home team returned the late-run favor, amassing a game-high ten-point advantage at 5:08 in the third, only to see Dallas bounce back to tie the game at 89-89 at the buzzer. The Mavs were 1-10 on their first ten attempts, and 9-10 on the following tries. Carlisle won a coaching challenge early on, resulting in a Maverick possession after an erroneous decision that the ball went out off Dallas was overruled. Toward the middle of the period, the usually calm DFS became annoyed at the pesky Kelly Oubre, and shoved him out of bounds, resulting in a foul that was upgraded to a flagrant on review. In a bizarre play late-ish in the period, the shot clock was improperly reset, and the referees stopped play for a timing adjustment that allowed Dallas only one second on the shot clock, taking away the time they would have had to work for a good look if the clock had been operated properly. They managed to get one up in any case, but to no avail.  

Fourth quarter. The Mavs began the fourth quarter with two fouls in the first minute. Powell and Rubio got into it around the 9:00 mark, with Ricky being assessed his fourth foul and Dwight being T'd up. By 8:16, the chippy Suns were in the penalty. Luka returned at 8:16, followed by KP at 7:58. Doncic suffered a hit to the face, requiring him to retreat to the sideline for attention to his nose. The Suns' Devin Booker made an effort to draw a foul on Luka three minutes later, but only succeeded in sailing an airball out of bounds. The aforementioned Booker committed a technical at 4:04, and Seth took the free throw with Luka on the court. By the 2:21 mark, the blue and silver had completed a 21-4 run that had them up a comfortable 16 points. Oubre and Rubio both fouled out in the closing minutes, and Monty Williams emptied his bench at 1:22. 


Analytics. The Mavs had more 3PTAs (47) than 2PTAs (38), and got to the line for 38 FTAs, compared to the Suns' 25. The game produced a whopping 53 personal fouls, as both sides took somewhat of a no-holds-barred approach. In terms of point differential, the Mavericks were -20 in points from twos, +12 in points from threes, and +15 in made free throws. The game came down to Dallas'  edge in threes and 15-FT advantage. The Suns had a 44-32 lead in PIP, and scored 20 second-chance points, with the Mavs' allowing three offensive rebounds after missed free throws, resulting in 9 Phoenix points. 


Players

Luka played a team-high 38 minutes, and put up a career-high-tying 42 points, along with 11 assists, 9 rebounds, and a steal, turning the ball over only twice. Another phenomenal performance that should have left the Suns' front office blushing after taking a pass on Doncic in favor of Ayton. He chastised himself postgame for a 3-11 three-point record, but he found a way to contribute nonetheless, hitting 9 of his 13 two-pointers, and getting to the line for 18 FTAs, completing 15. Without his spectacular drives to the basket and foul-drawing, the Mavericks don't get this win. Jet observed that Luka had 13 consecutive missed three-point attempts from the last game into the third quarter, partially due to the fact that the Slovenian doesn't get many catch-and-shoot opportunities and has to fire up some difficult shots. Aron Baynes, who flopped his way through the game, was totally unable to stay in front of the European wunderkind. 

Luka became the third player in NBA history to average a 30+ point triple double for a calendar month, after Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook. When Carlisle was asked about it, he shrugged it off, saying, "I don't pay attention to stats." Rii-iight. He did acknowledge that his young star had been "spectacular."

Hardaway sparkled in a 36-point outing, accumulating 26 points, including 6-9 threes and 4-4 free throws, with a couple of steals to boot. He started the game, and was also in the closing lineup of Doncic-Seth-Hardaway-Porzingis-Kleber. Jet showed highlights of one after another catch-and shoot threes from THJ, and opined that Luka creates multiple opportunities for great shooters in the first unit, whereas Tim has to create for himself off the bench, which isn't his strength. With THJ also being engaged on defense, it was a fabulous performance by the former Knick. Luka emphasized his belief that Tim has been playing very well not just lately, but from the beginning of the season. 

KP went 0-8 from the field in 34 minutes, but made up for it with 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and effective defense. Congratulations to the Latvian for staying with it, despite a disappointing offensive effort. Carlisle commented that he appreciated Porzee's attention to defense, rebounding, and rim protection. Jet allowed that the team could get KP better shots, as he mostly served as a bailout option late in the clock, and needs more mid-range to low-post iso opportunities.  An encouraging outing for Kristaps, notwithstanding the ball not going down.

DFS drew compliments from the broadcasting team. Although his box score line was not eye-popping (8 points and 2 rebounds in 27 minutes), the pundits noted that he is third in minutes on the team for a reason, helping defensively, staying out of Luka's way, and exhibiting excellent positioning on KP's post-ups. 


Impressions. This was an entertaining post-Thanksgiving match between two fun young teams. The Mavs showed their resilience in bouncing back from a humbling Clippers loss to deliver a decisive victory in a physical competition. Not the prettiest of wins, but  a satisfying one, nonetheless. 


Next stop, Los Angeles, to take on LeBron, AD, and the Lakers. The purple-and-gold stole one in the last face-off, so this should be an intriguing revenge match. Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday!

[Nowitzki Way]

I will say they showed more grit and more "toughness" then at any point this season. But it seemed more out of necessity than anything, they were getting bullied the first few quarters.  This team is full of genuinely nice guys. They really don't want to mix it up with other players unless they have to. 

KP pushed Baynes, but he really didnt want those problems. Powell threw a phantom elbow at Rubio but I don't think it was intentional. When Rubio got in his face, Powell tried to reason with him and walk away. Powell is the probably the nicest guy in the NBA. Not good for your starting center. I really liked what DFS did. Out of character for him, but he shoved Oubre into the bench. It got him a tech, but Oubre was lights out to that point and I don't think he scored another point after that. We need more of that from Finney-Smith. From the whole team.

Beyond that this game was about Luka doing Luka things again. And THJ continuing to stay hot.

Two topics I want to touch on though. First one is Porzingis. He's getting praised for his rebounding (13 boards), and I must say some of those were strong rebounds in traffic. His hustle is also very impressive. But his offensive game is struggling right now. Its downright painful to watch. He has no rhythm right now. He cant find his spots. Nothing is falling for him. This season all he's had offensively is that 3 pointer from the top of the key, and that wasn't falling last night. When that's not falling he brings nothing offensively at the moment. He has no post up skills, even against smaller players so he relies on that 3 pointer or tip in dunks. We can only hope that he's still rounding into shape and we are only seeing 75 to 80 percent of what he can be.

The second topic that needs to be discussed is this bench/rotations. I like how the past handful of games it looks like Rick has ironed out his rotations and given defined roles. But when our bench unit is running with Wright, Curry, and Brunson, Kleber/Powell? Oh boy that's ugly. No one can create their own shot. Besides Curry, no real outside threat either. Seems like a lot dribbling and struggling to find a shot . As we've been mentioning on this board for weeks, this team is going to have to make a trade to address these ill fitting parts.

From the naked eye, Brunson seems like the odd guy out.  I would say Wright, but his size and defensive skills seem to fit better with this team. But having the two of them together on the court wont work for long.

[SportPsychMav]

Come ALLSTAR break we might see more barea, just for toughness and shot creation.

[Nowitzki Way]

Come ALLSTAR break we might see more barea, just for toughness and sshot creation.

Hopefully after they trade Brunson or Powell.  But I can see Rick running that 3 PG lineup with Barea, Brunson, Wright.

But you make a good point. Its clear that Barea is a better with shot creation, well better all around then some of the others getting minutes. What are we waiting on with getting Barea into the rotation every night? Is it still load management form his injury? Or are we showcasing some of the others for trades?

[SportPsychMav]

Come ALLSTAR break we might see more barea, just for toughness and sshot creation.

Hopefully after they trade Brunson or Powell.  But I can see Rick running that 3 PG lineup with Barea, Brunson, Wright.

But you make a good point. Its clear that Barea is a better with shot creation, well better all around then some of the others getting minutes. What are we waiting on with getting Barea into the rotation every night? Is it still load management form his injury? Or are we showcasing some of the others for trades?

It's not time yet. He is fine with not playing. We are a young team. It's not full win now. They balance egos, showcasing, development, injuries, and winning.

It's not full on yet, for no team in the nba, at least not every night.

[Nowitzki Way]

Come ALLSTAR break we might see more barea, just for toughness and sshot creation.

Hopefully after they trade Brunson or Powell.  But I can see Rick running that 3 PG lineup with Barea, Brunson, Wright.

But you make a good point. Its clear that Barea is a better with shot creation, well better all around then some of the others getting minutes. What are we waiting on with getting Barea into the rotation every night? Is it still load management form his injury? Or are we showcasing some of the others for trades?

It's not time yet. He is fine with not playing. We are a young team. It's not full win now. They balance egos, showcasing, development, injuries, and winning.

It's not full on yet, for no team in the nba, at least not every night.

While I mostly agree, but for a teams fighting for seeds 5 to 8 in the west this year, every win counts.  This isn't like most years. Especially for a team like the Mavs who are starving to get back to the playoffs. A win in November/December may not seem like much right now but it will later. I cant see them intentionally not playing Barea because its not "win-now" mode yet.  This is more to do with coming back from injury and still trying to figure what they have. They know what they have in Barea.  But I cant see them saying, "Well the games aren't that important yet. Lets not play J.J. that much until we need him."

[SportPsychMav]

Come ALLSTAR break we might see more barea, just for toughness and sshot creation.

Hopefully after they trade Brunson or Powell.  But I can see Rick running that 3 PG lineup with Barea, Brunson, Wright.

But you make a good point. Its clear that Barea is a better with shot creation, well better all around then some of the others getting minutes. What are we waiting on with getting Barea into the rotation every night? Is it still load management form his injury? Or are we showcasing some of the others for trades?

It's not time yet. He is fine with not playing. We are a young team. It's not full win now. They balance egos, showcasing, development, injuries, and winning.

It's not full on yet, for no team in the nba, at least not every night.

While I mostly agree, but for a teams fighting for seeds 5 to 8 in the west this year, every win counts.  This isn't like most years. Especially for a team like the Mavs who are starving to get back to the playoffs. A win in November/December may not seem like much right now but it will later. I cant see them intentionally not playing Barea because its not "win-now" mode yet.  This is more to do with coming back from injury and still trying to figure what they have. They know what they have in Barea.  But I cant see them saying, "Well the games aren't that important yet. Lets not play J.J. that much until we need him."

Winning is their top priority since the Knicks game. It's not their only priority though.

[Derek Nowitzki]

A great win, and I’m loving what the team has been doing lately, but the negatives that are really standing out to me are:

Too many possessions with Luka dribbling for 20 seconds and then hoisting up ridiculous step back 3’s... they look great when they go in, but often feels like a wasted possession.

It seems Seth has been reduced to just a bit-part spot-up shooter role... I could be wrong, but I feel like his first stint with us, he actually did well as a shot creator; would like to see him given some chances to run things, or at least have more plays called for him.

What is Dwight Powell doing out there?

[Nowitzki Way]

A great win, and I’m loving what the team has been doing lately, but the negatives that are really standing out to me are:

Too many possessions with Luka dribbling for 20 seconds and then hoisting up ridiculous step back 3’s... they look great when they go in, but often feels like a wasted possession.

It seems Seth has been reduced to just a bit-part spot-up shooter role... I could be wrong, but I feel like his first stint with us, he actually did well as a shot creator; would like to see him given some chances to run things, or at least have more plays called for him.

What is Dwight Powell doing out there?

I'm not liking what I see with Curry either. He's a spot up shooter, but doesn't seem to be hitting as many open looks. He's currently at almost 38% on three attempts, but we're talking about a guy that was at 44% on threes for a career coming into the season. Which has him top 5 all time.  So you can feel those handful of extra misses so far this year.  Curry has a role here, but he's also expendable if we had to add him to a trade.

Powell? I don't even want to get started on him. He is worthless so far this year. He looked good the 2nd half of last season, but he's not the same player at the moment.

[mavsluvr]

I will say they showed more grit and more "toughness" then at any point this season. But it seemed more out of necessity than anything, they were getting bullied the first few quarters.  This team is full of genuinely nice guys. They really don't want to mix it up with other players unless they have to. 

That seems reasonable. No point risking foul trouble, flagrants, technicals, injury, etc., if you don't have to. 

KP pushed Baynes, but he really didnt want those problems. Powell threw a phantom elbow at Rubio but I don't think it was intentional. When Rubio got in his face, Powell tried to reason with him and walk away. Powell is the probably the nicest guy in the NBA. Not good for your starting center. I really liked what DFS did. Out of character for him, but he shoved Oubre into the bench. It got him a tech, but Oubre was lights out to that point and I don't think he scored another point after that.

After that, he hit the two foul shots, had a layup a minute and a half later, hit a three at 3:05, and had a floater in the fourth. I would still like to know what got the normally phlegmatic Finney-Smith that irate. Not sure it really did much to stop Oubre, who pretty well torched the Mavs with 22 points and 10 boards, but agree that it was an interesting development. 

We need more of that from Finney-Smith. From the whole team.

Beyond that this game was about Luka doing Luka things again. And THJ continuing to stay hot.

Two topics I want to touch on though. First one is Porzingis. He's getting praised for his rebounding (13 boards), and I must say some of those were strong rebounds in traffic. His hustle is also very impressive. But his offensive game is struggling right now. Its downright painful to watch. He has no rhythm right now. He cant find his spots. Nothing is falling for him. This season all he's had offensively is that 3 pointer from the top of the key, and that wasn't falling last night. When that's not falling he brings nothing offensively at the moment. He has no post up skills, even against smaller players so he relies on that 3 pointer or tip in dunks. We can only hope that he's still rounding into shape and we are only seeing 75 to 80 percent of what he can be.

Agree that it was painful to watch KP struggle. I wouldn't say that he's adding nothing, though. He drew defenders and enabled shooters to get open. Do agree that he needs to be better, and that the Mavs need to get him some better looks. I noticed that they tried to run a little bit of stuff for him, but it went awry. 

The second topic that needs to be discussed is this bench/rotations. I like how the past handful of games it looks like Rick has ironed out his rotations and given defined roles. But when our bench unit is running with Wright, Curry, and Brunson, Kleber/Powell? Oh boy that's ugly. No one can create their own shot. Besides Curry, no real outside threat either. Seems like a lot dribbling and struggling to find a shot . As we've been mentioning on this board for weeks, this team is going to have to make a trade to address these ill fitting parts.

The bench outscored the Suns bench 39-26, and Seth was the team's third highest scorer with 11 points, but creating has been an issue for them. Rick has said that Seth and Brunson should both be capable in a playmaking role, and implied that they were working on that. It is surprising that this collection of spare parts has organized into a pretty well-functioning machine. But I don't deny that improvements in that direction will be necessary to take the next step. 

From the naked eye, Brunson seems like the odd guy out.  I would say Wright, but his size and defensive skills seem to fit better with this team. But having the two of them together on the court wont work for long.

I agree that it was good to see the grit and toughness, especially coming from these high-character players.

[pedroffabreu]

Jalen Brunson is too good for how much we're paying him. We're talking about a player on his sophomore year in the NBA.

[sefant]

Big part of the win was the bench mob getting Suns to 5 fouls in roughly 4 min. Its even harder to defend the best offense in the league if you are in the penalty early. We got roughly 6-8 FTs extra on non shooting fouls over the last 8 min of the game because they were in the penalty.

Also felt like they won the game on defense in the 4th, Suns had a lot of empty poss in the 4th. Rubio got denied at least twice by KP at the rim. Suns couldn't get easy baskets inside with KP in. Everyone see's the box score of KP, but the dude certainly had winning plays on defense in the 4th that don't show on the box score.

Also the Suns were healthy again. The last 2 weeks they missed Rubio and/or Baynes. That was certainly a good win.

[Scott41theMavs]

Jalen Brunson is too good for how much we're playing him.

FIFY

[mavsluvr]

Come ALLSTAR break we might see more barea, just for toughness and sshot creation.

Hopefully after they trade Brunson or Powell.  But I can see Rick running that 3 PG lineup with Barea, Brunson, Wright.

But you make a good point. Its clear that Barea is a better with shot creation, well better all around then some of the others getting minutes. What are we waiting on with getting Barea into the rotation every night? Is it still load management form his injury? Or are we showcasing some of the others for trades?

It's not time yet. He is fine with not playing. We are a young team. It's not full win now. They balance egos, showcasing, development, injuries, and winning.

It's not full on yet, for no team in the nba, at least not every night.

While I mostly agree, but for a teams fighting for seeds 5 to 8 in the west this year, every win counts.  This isn't like most years. Especially for a team like the Mavs who are starving to get back to the playoffs. A win in November/December may not seem like much right now but it will later. I cant see them intentionally not playing Barea because its not "win-now" mode yet.  This is more to do with coming back from injury and still trying to figure what they have. They know what they have in Barea.  But I cant see them saying, "Well the games aren't that important yet. Lets not play J.J. that much until we need him."

I don't know of any indications that playing Barea more minutes has become any kind of independent goal in and of itself for the Mavs. If anything, probably the contrary, actually. Carlisle made it clear earlier that he was "saving" JJB for emergencies. McMahon asked him (I think yesterday) about whether Barea was going to play more, given how well he was doing, and Rick did not express any enthusiasm for that idea, but commended the small PG for staying ready.

Maybe they'll break JJB out if they need to get a few wins to make the postseason and the other backup guards aren't cutting it. Fifteenth queried whether he might even be a factor in the playoffs, which I thought was an interesting proposition. But I agree that the Mavs' big-picture goals for this season involve the development of KP and Luka, experimenting with what they have and need in terms of the rest of the roster, building a Carlisle-type culture and playing style, and making the playoffs, and that they are willing to forgo maximizing their possible number of wins in favor of other objectives, to a degree. Realize that a lot of fans would prefer a win-the-most-games-period approach. I get that, but I just don't think that is where they perceive themselves in the development cycle, at this point. We don't have to agree with it, but it can be useful to recognize it.

[Fuerza1]

It's sad people actually believe more Barea = better. Brunson is already better than he ever was.

Barea's a gimmick player like Boban, only useful in small doses or he'll get exposed. Remember everybody hyping Boban after a couple games? 

Barea's 35 coming off an Achilles injury for goodness sake. But yeah I get it, we need that 2011 nostalgia shot to remind us of the "good times." Damn hippies.

[fifteenth]

Brunson is already better than he ever was.

LOL

[Scott41theMavs]

It's sad people actually believe more Barea = better. Brunson is already better than he ever was.

Barea's a gimmick player like Boban, only useful in small doses or he'll get exposed. Remember everybody hyping Boban after a couple games?

Barea's 35 coming off an Achilles injury for goodness sake. But yeah I get it, we need that 2011 nostalgia shot to remind us of the "good times." Damn hippies.

Must be watching a different Brunson and a different JJB than I've seen this year. Me, I was watching the ones playing for the Dallas Mavericks.

[Fuerza1]

Must be watching a different Brunson and a different JJB than I've seen this year. Me, I was watching the ones playing for the Dallas Mavericks.

Anyone can look like a monster in a 3 game sample size, especially when two of those games come in garbage time. You think Barea turned into an all-star at age 35 with a ruptured Achilles? 

When Barea went down last season, Brunson put up 12 ppg, 4 apg, and 3 rpg as a rookie, shooting 49% from the field and 38% from three over a 39 game span. Those numbers would be a career year for Barea. 

Brunson is a way better finisher than him, and once his 3PT shot comes back, it won't even be close to who's better.

Brunson's only attempted 37 three's this year and made 10 of them. For perspective, Stephen Curry also attempted 37 three's this year and made only 9 of them. 

Is Steph really a 24% 3PT shooter? Is Brunson really a 27% 3PT shooter? Likely not. The sample size is just too small.

[mavsluvr]

A great win, and I’m loving what the team has been doing lately, but the negatives that are really standing out to me are:

Too many possessions with Luka dribbling for 20 seconds and then hoisting up ridiculous step back 3’s... they look great when they go in, but often feels like a wasted possession.

Luka does have a tendency to go to those step-backs. Understand that Rick is letting him have the reins, but working with him on getting the best shots for himself and the team. Believe LD understands the need for improvement, and tends to beat up on himself about shot selection. Those shots do look gorgeous going in, though, don't they? 

It seems Seth has been reduced to just a bit-part spot-up shooter role... I could be wrong, but I feel like his first stint with us, he actually did well as a shot creator; would like to see him given some chances to run things, or at least have more plays called for him.

Agree that Seth's apparent underachievement has been puzzling. Hopefully, he'll round into form here soon. 

What is Dwight Powell doing out there?

[Jommybone]

A few counterpoints:

1. Bench struggling to create? Best net rating in the league, this bench of ours. Whatever they’re struggling with, I want more of the same.

2. KP can’t get a call. It’s crazy how much worse the refs treat him now that he's #2 in Dallas rather than #1 in NY.

3. Get used to the DFS praise. He’s been incredible this season so far. A very improved player, and just what the team needed.