Look out NBA, the Mavericks are coming.
The Mavericks finished this past week 3-1, bringing them back above .500 with a record of 8-7. Even with a three-game winning streak, they have made up no ground in the standings and sit outside of playoff contention in 11th. Their lone loss came at the hands of the Utah Jazz (115-113), while their three wins have come consecutively against San Antonio (110-93), Oklahoma City (121-119) and New Orleans (132-91). Dante Exum remains out recovering from wrist surgery.
Grade: A-
As the old saying goes, “It’s not that you got knocked down, it’s how you get back up”. Dallas has done that and countered a four-game losing skid with a three-game win streak. Sometimes you just need to see one go through the hoop, and the Mavericks used the momentum from a big win against the Spurs to propel them back to a winning record.
They have gotten help from different places recently too. P.J. Washington did what he does against the Thunder, pouring in 27 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. The Mavericks’ bench has been electric over the last three games, averaging 53.3 points per game in that stretch. Jaden Hardy and Daniel Gafford have led the way, averaging 12 and 14.7 points, respectively. They even got three steals and a block against the Pelicans from their leader, Luka Doncic.
Despite their 8-7 record, the Mavericks rank inside the top ten on offense and defense. They are an elite team operating under the guise of fraudulent jokesters, but their gimmick is starting to wear off. Dallas has won three in a row and if you look ahead, this could turn into 15 wins in their final 19 games (including the last three) before the calendar turns to 2025.
Straight A’s: Resiliency
After Dallas lost to Utah five days ago, I said the Mavericks needed to develop a championship edge. There are things that championship contenders do (or don’t do) that Dallas had failed to display to open the year. One of these is winning games you should not lose. The loss to the Jazz was inexplicable, but to Dallas’ credit, they followed it up with two dominant wins against inferior teams and a gutsy win on the road against (at the time) the number-one team out West without Luka Doncic.
What Dallas has done in the past three games is exactly what they and the fans needed to see. They lacked a measure of life that the team had gained after the trade deadline last season. Finding ways to win against good teams was their second half of the season MO in 2023-24. Beating the Thunder on a night when Klay Thompson made just one shot is doing exactly that. Developing a championship-caliber shell takes time, but this stretch was a good step toward that goal.
Currently Failing: Luka Doncic’s step-back
The step-back, once championed by James Harden, has been Doncic’s signature move for the last six years. It’s a jab to the face of efficiency, but for most of Doncic’s career, he has used the shot effectively. It has been the shot he’s used for almost all of his career-defining plays. However, he has gotten off to a shaky start this season and his step-back is the biggest reason why. It’s the shot that gives him a rhythm and one that is killer to defenses if it is going in. He is shooting the step-back at just 29.2 percent on 96 attempts so far, which would be five points lower than his career low of 34.2 (which was in his second year). Luckily for Dallas, he has made four of his last eight. If that is a sign of things to come, the water will find its level and Doncic will start producing the offensive outings we are accustomed to seeing.
Extra Credit: Naji Marshall
Naji Marshall is a fascinating player. He does not play above the rim, but he takes almost 72 percent of his shots from two-point range. Just take a look at his shot chart, in the context of percentage versus league average:
He has rejected modernity and perfected the contested floating jump shot. Three-pointers mean nothing to him and he has proven you can be effective while shooting 13 percent from beyond the arc. If this team wants to go as far as they should, he will probably have to take and make more threes, but for now, we have to respect and enjoy the shot profile Marshall has elected to take on.