It’s going to get harder before It gets easier
The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 119-104 in a battle between the NBA’s two most banged up squads Monday night in Memphis.
Things always get darkest before the dawn, but for Dallas, things just keep getting darker. It is the fifth loss in a row, and it comes with a complementary addition to the injury report. Daniel Gafford, Dallas’ highly effective backup big, went down early with a rolled ankle and didn’t return. Time will tell how long until he sees the court again.
Dereck Lively supplied a 14 and 12 double-double and Jaden Hardy came on strong with a 15-point second half, but none of it was enough to overcome Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 35-point night.
The limits of next man up
The depth of this Mavs’ team really is great, but that’s what it is: depth. While Memphis’ injury report looks a lot like Dallas’, they still have a guy out there in Jackson who can shoulder the offensive load and let other Grizzlies find their spots.
For Dallas, without Luka and Kyrie, not only are they without the scoring those two provide, but the offense goes from being run by the best one-two backcourt in the league to Spencer Dinwiddie and Jaden Hardy. Now the frontcourt is feeling the strain with Gafford going down, Dallas’s next guys up need next guys, and it’s hard to win in this conference like that.
Not in the job description
When Klay Thompson signed in Dallas, he didn’t do so expecting to be the first option on a team with guys like Doncic and Irving. It’s not fair to expect him to shoulder the kind of load that comes with being to go-to scoring option, but when you look at this roster does anyone else jump out at you as being a guy who can get buckets like Klay?
He’s shooting a little over 38% from three this season, which is fine, but below his typical 40%, and on a night like tonight, when he was taking shots that could’ve swung the momentum a bit, or put a stop to a Memphis scoring run, the misses feel bigger. He’s getting good looks, and he took the second-most shots tonight with 16 (behind PJ Washington’s 22), he’s just got to look like Golden State Klay for one night to get Dallas back in the win column.
Pump the brakes
The Mavs had 15 turnovers tonight, which isn’t terrible, but 10 came in the second half, which just so happens to coincide with when Memphis took Dallas’ double-digit lead, and built a 12-point advantage of their own.
Only time can get this roster looking right, but in the meantime, the players on the floor need to be a little more deliberate. A slower pace might help an offense that tends to get a little helter-skelter, and fewer possessions in a game means a higher variance in expected outcomes… aka, we might just get a little lucky. Dallas right now is a team that will need a little luck to win, and by slowing the game down a little bit, maybe they can make some of their own.