Wake up, Mavericks. Your season is slipping away.
The Mavericks were just 1-3 over the last week and have a record of 23-19. They are in seventh place in the West, a half-game out of sixth. Their three losses came twice at home to Denver (112-101, 118-99) and once in New Orleans (119-116). The win came at home against Oklahoma City (106-98). Kyrie Irving returned to action from his back injury but Dereck Lively hurt his ankle against Denver and has missed the last two games. Luka Doncic (calf strain) and Dante Exum (wrist surgery) remain out.
Grade: C
Had the Mavericks not beaten the Thunder, things would be exponentially bleaker than they are right now. Dallas has played some incredibly poor second halves the last four games and it started with a blown lead to Denver last Sunday. With 2:54 left in the third quarter, Dallas led Denver by 18. Up to that point, it was a triumph of heart. The Mavericks were playing with a purpose and the team felt inspired. This all fell apart quickly as Denver outscored Dallas 43-14 the rest of the way. The way that game finished broke Dallas and they got blown off the floor with Kyrie Irving back just two days later.
Playing the Pelicans without Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, or Herb Jones was a clear “get right” spot. There were no excuses for losing that game. Even without Dereck Lively, Luka Doncic, and Kyrie Irving, Dallas has a better roster. They also had just got embarrassed the night before and needed to show signs of pride. They did nothing of the sort and failed to win a winnable game in a stretch where the only thing that matters is winning.
The win against the Thunder in and of itself saved Dallas two letter grades because they finally showed the fight we were expecting for the last three games. To their credit, they have beaten the Thunder twice without Luka Doncic this season, which is no easy feat. But as I said before, their second-half offensive struggles are very real and they have not played great basketball recently. They have a 102.1 offensive rating in the second half over the last four games, second-worst in the NBA. Two leads of 18-plus have evaporated in striking ways in those games, and the defense has not been good for long enough stretches to offset the stale offense. With an incredibly tough week ahead (games against Minnesota, Oklahoma City, and Boston), Dallas cannot afford to lose the energy they played with in their win.
Currently Failing: Organizational commitment to winning
The Mavericks are in a unique position right now given their injuries. Normally, we would be watching the team trying to figure out big-picture takeaways from each game. There are none of those right now; Dallas simply just needs to win in whatever way they can. The problem is, from the top down, they are not showing an urgency to do so. I will start my point with the fact that Dallas did not protest the loss to the Pelicans. If you missed it, Trey Murphy goaltended a Spencer Dinwiddie layup that would have given Dallas the lead late in the fourth quarter. The goaltend was not called live and the Mavericks lost, but it was confirmed later in the two-minute report.
Dallas’ decision to not protest this game is a microcosm of their attitude toward winning right now. As a whole, they are not doing everything in their power to salvage wins. Was this game ever going to be replayed? Probably not. Should the Mavericks have been in a position against an inferior team to allow this to happen? Definitely not. But the ability to challenge the result of a game exists and, in theory, is a vessel through which you can salvage wins. The fact that Dallas opted to not go through the process shows their lack of awareness of how close to critical condition their season is.
They have blown multiple double-digit second-half leads recently (Denver, Sacramento, Oklahoma City). They played Kyrie Irving on a night when they got blown out instead of the next night against a much weaker opponent. Their offense down the stretch resorts to Spencer Dinwiddie iso ball, even, for example, after they ran good action for seven quick Klay Thompson points earlier in the fourth against New Orleans. Staying on that game, they were in the bonus with 9:30 left and did not shoot a free throw until less than a minute remaining. When the Mavericks’ lead starts to slip away, Jason Kidd is no better than the fans at home and chooses to watch the team try and figure it out. Dallas surrendered a 20-point halftime lead against Oklahoma City in just 8.5 minutes!
There isn’t just one level of the organization failing right now, it is an amalgamation of paper cuts at every level that has them bleeding out. With injuries lingering, the Mavericks just need to win. How they do it is not important, but there needs to be a larger sense of urgency from everyone involved and a commitment to doing whatever it takes to win games. If not, the season could slip away very quickly. There would be chaos if the unthinkable happened and Dallas missed the playoffs. They have to find something inside themselves and channel it right now, or we could be watching the second wasted season in the last three years.