Scrimmage 1: Mavs vs. Lakers (108-104 win)

[Dahlsim]

1. Obviously the rotation was deeper that it will be in a few weeks. You don't normally do an entire line change after the first 5 minutes. (Is Rick a closet NHL fan?)
   
2. Seth was dialed in. Curry pride is resting on him this year and it looks like he's up to it. BTW, I don't think he touched the guy on the challenged foul. Lakers getting Laker calls.
   
3. Who get's to select the NBATV announcers in the bubble? Do they use the "home" team audio feed?
   
4. It ended up well, but LeBron and AD didn't play the 2nd half and I think the LA length is going to be a problem in the playoffs. That's where we are going to miss DP this offseason, although Bobi could make things interesting if he finds a comfort zone. (keep practicing those 3s big guy!)
   
5. Anybody else notice how Bobi makes DHoward look like a little kid? 
   

Sure, Lebron and AD won the 1st half fairly handily.  That's a bit of measuring stick to consider from the scrimmage no doubt. 
As far of the length, a team that has KP and Bobi along with Maxi should not really have length problem against anyone even without DP and WCS active. 

Its completely a matter of how the Coach uses them and how well the big men perform. 
On that note, it was interesting to me to see that Coach Carlisle gave Boban extensive run. 
KP of course is always going to play big minutes if he's healthy, so that length is a given.  
Maxi is solid, but both KP and Maxi are vulnerable to "Bully Ball" and there were already some signs of that being the strategy against the Mavs in the first half.  
Boban is the only one that presents a big beefy body to get around.  I've always hated the fact that Boban is a little too "gentle" to maximize his size.   

He just doesn't seem to have it in him to put a hard body on someone now and then attacking him, but the size is still an obstacle at the rim and on especially on the boards that can help some.  
We know that Rick has said Marjanovic is a force that can match up with anyone on office but that defense where the problem comes in.  

Can he guard in space?  That's the thing to watch. 
Its a little tricky because sometimes the rest of the Mavs aren't guarding very well which makes it hard for anyone to cover for them.  

KP can be elite at shot blocking, off the ball help particularly and Maxi is a good athlete too.  Body to body is where they can struggle. 
What I like to see as far as Boban making even bigs like Dwight Howard look small, if for the Mavs to keep pressure on the opponent bigs, even AD and McGee for instance by forcing them to keep guard on Bobi as a threat.   Mavs guards, especially Luka are really good at taking the options when those guys are trying to defend the easy basket threat from the Giant.

[JamesConway]

Offense remains great with the starters, but Curry - Hardaway - Doncic will always give up a ton of buckets. They just don't play any defense. Also KP's rebounding will be a point of emphasis in the playoffs. He has vastly improved his defensive rebounding since coming here but will it hold up in the playoffs? McGee pushed him around badly.

The bench was pretty awful and tbh that's what I expected without Brunson and WCS/Powell. Hopefully Carlilse can find a way around that in the playoffs. We're super thin.

[StepBackJay]

Offense remains great with the starters, but Curry - Hardaway - Doncic will always give up a ton of buckets. They just don't play any defense. Also KP's rebounding will be a point of emphasis in the playoffs. He has vastly improved his defensive rebounding since coming here but will it hold up in the playoffs? McGee pushed him around badly.

The bench was pretty awful and tbh that's what I expected without Brunson and WCS/Powell. Hopefully Carlilse can find a way around that in the playoffs. We're super thin.

I think you see that Mavs for now will try to overwhelm you with offense in their starting 5 which works to a point. Long-term we need a defensive stud outside of KP who I think is a stud defensively at his position. 1 of Curry/THJ/DFS needs to be replaced in the starting lineup with a true defensive monster. DFS is good not great, Curry good not great, THJ better than expected defensively. That's all fine but we need a stud.

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I hope Rick plays Bobi more considering our other options are terrible and it just makes our team that much more lovable.

[ItsGoTime]

We need DFS to get a lot better

I don't understand this statement. DFS did get a lot better and is way overplaying his contract. What else do you expect? He plays defense and hits open threes. I am not saying he is a surefire starter on a contender and I would look for improvement in his spot, but I am very satisfied with his development and plays.

Secondary (or bench) playmaking is by far the biggest issue we have at the moment. I agree JJB is a non rotation spark at best at this stage of his career.

I don’t understand why you don’t understand the statement. His assessment of what he saw last night brought him to the conclusion that we need DFS to be a lot better than the 1 scrimmage game. I agree. I think he played a mediocre game and hope and have seen him play a lot better.

[ThisIStheYear]

We need DFS to get a lot better

I don't understand this statement. DFS did get a lot better and is way overplaying his contract. What else do you expect? He plays defense and hits open threes. I am not saying he is a surefire starter on a contender and I would look for improvement in his spot, but I am very satisfied with his development and plays.

Secondary (or bench) playmaking is by far the biggest issue we have at the moment. I agree JJB is a non rotation spark at best at this stage of his career.

I don’t understand why you don’t understand the statement. His assessment of what he saw last night brought him to the conclusion that we need DFS to be a lot better than the 1 scrimmage game. I agree. I think he played a mediocre game and hope and have seen him play a lot better.

That was a one game comment.  He was a glaringly weak link in the scrimmage, that’s all.  So, take it for what it is. It’s not that big of a deal, at this point. DFS is a valuable part of the roster.  He’ll have a great responsibility to be on the top of his game if the Mavs are to make it past the first round. There’s no one else on the roster who has shown an ability to fill his role, which is central to the modern NBA, in even a remotely competent fashion.

[ItsGoTime]

He’ll have a great responsibility to be on the top of his game if the Mavs are to make it past the first round.

This.

[ItsGoTime]

Game recap on Mavs.com:

[b]For someone who didn’t shoot a basketball for almost two months during the coronavirus pandemic, it didn’t take Seth Curry long to get locked into a zone.[/b]

During Thursday’s 108-104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at the VISA Athletic Center in a scrimmage at the NBA bubble, Curry showed that he still has the Midas touch. In the Mavs’ first game since they spanked the Denver Nuggets by 16 points back on March 11, everything Curry touched turn to gold as he collected a game-high 23 points and was absolutely on fire all night long.

But it wasn’t the points that set Curry apart. It was the way he was draining shot after shot so effortlessly. Overall, the seven-year veteran guard was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field, including 6-for-6 from downtown.

All this came after Curry said his wife, Callie, “locked the house” as the COVID-19 crisis spread.

“My wife had it shut down,” Curry said. “Nobody could get in (the house) or out. It was at least a month-and-a-half or two months of not going to a gym.

“I shot a few times on the outdoor court just to touch the ball and get some light work in. But this is by far the longest time I’ve ever been in my life (without shooting a basketball).

No one could tell Curry had been away from basketball that long as he drained three consecutive 3-pointers in the first quarter, and added three more in the third quarter after the Mavs rallied from a 53-40 deficit late in the second quarter to roll ahead, 77-74, entering the fourth quarter.

“He’s one of the guys that really was very conscientious during the hiatus,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “As the season came to a hiatus point he was just getting in his groove.

“It’s not an accident that he’s shooting the ball as well as he is. He works at it, but more importantly he’s worked at the base of his conditioning and everything else leading up to this point.”

Besides Curry, the Mavs received a huge 17-point, 13-rebound night from backup center Boban Marjanovic. The 7-4 giant of a man filled in admirably for centers Dwight Powell (Achilles tendon surgery) and Willie Cauley-Stein (birth of a daughter).

“With Dwight being out and Willie Cauley-Stein not being here, (Marjanovic is) very much in the mix,” Carlisle said. “Look, coming off what (Marjanovic) did in the Denver game (on Mar. 11) in the last game of the hiatus when he had 31 (points) and 17 (rebounds), he’s showing what he can do.

“He’s definitely a weapon for us and we’re going to have to take advantage of what he does. There’s going to be some unusual matchups on both sides of the ball, but we’re going to have to take advantage of his size on the offensive end and find creative ways to cover him defensive.”

On this night, the Mavs took advantage of the fact that Lakers’ All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis only played in the first half. James finished with 12 points and five assists in 15 minutes, and Davis added 12 points in 15 minutes.

Curry played just 16 minutes, Luka Doncic collected 14 points, five rebounds and six assists in only 17 minutes, and Kristaps Porzingis played just 15 foul-plagued minutes and finished with only eight points on 3-of-6 shooting. Also for the Mavs, Justin Jackson tallied 13 points and Maxi Kleber had 10.

Due to the coronavirus, the game was played with no fans in the stands. And that in itself brought with it a different set of circumstances.

“It was different for sure,” Doncic said. “You could hear a lot of talking, and that’s different, but we just came here to play basketball and give our best.

“I think we played great offensively. We’ve got a lot of weapons on our team.”

Curry described the atmosphere as something he wasn’t accustomed to.

“It was definitely weird coming out during warmups, but the start of the game it was good competition,” he said. “During the basketball game you could definitely hear both teams talking, both benches talking all night, so that should be interesting.

“But as far as the atmosphere, it’s something you just got to get use to and it’s going to be an adjustment for everybody.”

Delon Wright iced the game for the Mavs when he nailed a pair of free throws with 18.4 seconds remaining for the final points of the night.

Overall, the Mavs shot a sizzling 54.1 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. The Mavs also only lost the rebound battle by one (38-37), although those 14 turnovers Dallas committed drew the ire of Carlisle, whose team will scrimmage the Indiana Pacers on Sunday at 3 p.m.

“I thought overall we did a lot of good things,” he said. “Two areas that hurt us – we made a lot of turnovers and we fouled a lot.”

Curry just hopes his next game will be as perfect as the game he threw at the Lakers.

“Every shot I got was something I worked on and something I probably should actually make,” Curry said. “It wasn’t anything too crazy.

“I just made good shots, guys were finding me and setting good screens. The background and the site line from pretty much every angle, it’s not too deep of a depth perception, so it felt good and I hope things continue.”

[b]Twitter: @DwainPrice[/b]