Dallas looks for its first preseason win
The Dallas Mavericks head to Los Angeles for their only road preseason game this year, taking on the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night.
Dallas is looking for its first preseason win after dropping games to Memphis and Utah last week. The Mavericks haven’t been at full-strength all preseason, although new Maverick Klay Thompson made his debut against the Jazz.
The Mavericks likely won’t have either PJ Washington or Luka Doncic against the Clippers, as coach Jason Kidd has told media he hopes they’ll be available for the final preseason game against Milwaukee, using that game as a dress rehearsal for the regular season opener.
For now we’ll get to see more of Thompson in a Mavericks uniform and see how some bench players continue to gel. Here’s what to watch for:
More Klay!
Klay Thompson debuted against the Jazz, and while his numbers were modest (10 points on 3-of-9 shooting), you could already see how Thompson’s skillset can dramatically enhance what the Mavericks are doing offensively.
By far the most notable stat from Klay’s debut was the three assists. Thompson has been a great passer catching off of pindown screens or setting screens himself — the Warriors read-and-react motion offense encouraged this. While the Warriors frontcourt hasn’t been bad during Thompson’s time there, the upgrade in rim-finishing with Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford is notable. Thompson had a smooth assist in the first half against Utah to Lively for a dunk, after setting a ball screen for Kyrie Irving. Thompson represents an upgraded version of Tim Hardaway Jr.’s skillset, and the Mavericks were able to get the best years of Hardaway’s career in Dallas. Imagining that role but with Thompson is salivating for Mavericks fans, so this will be another opportunity to see it in action.
Bench shuffling
The Mavericks have a mostly set starting lineup, with Thompson, Irving, and Doncic surrounded in the frontcourt by PJ Washington and Dereck Lively. We know Gafford will be the backup center and occasional starter depending on the matchup and injuries. The rest of the bench is still somewhat up for grabs.
We know Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes will likely major players, but neither has impressed too much during preseason. Marshall has shown dribble skills that can help the Mavericks at-time stagnant offense, but he’s shooting poorly from the field so far, while Grimes hasn’t gotten on track either. It’d be encouraging for these two to have some bright moments in these final two preseason games.
Backup point guard duties are a fight between Spencer Dinwiddie and Jaden Hardy, with Dante Exum on the shelf recovering from wrist surgery. Dinwiddie is big enough to play next to Hardy, but it’ll be interesting to see how Kidd manages these minutes when the games actually count. Hardy has had some good moments behind the three point line this preseason and made some nice passes, but he’s still struggling to score from two-point range. Dinwiddie has been, well, rough to say the least, resembling more the Dinwiddie from Washington, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles then the one that shined for about 18 months in Dallas after being traded here in 2022. Dinwiddie’s veteran status affords him some grace, so Hardy will have to keep showing up in these preseason games.
O-Max’s role
There’s a lot to like about second-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper — his athletic frame, his motor, and personality. He fits the mold of the ideal 3-and-D wing, it’s just that so far when Prosper has been given extra burn during Summer League and preseason, he’s been using that time to work on things outside of his game and role — getting up pull-up jumpers, handling the ball, trying to isolate and score.
That simply isn’t what Prosper will be asked to do if he gets minutes in the regular season. I’ve harped on this a few times, especially on the podcast, but I’d love to see Prosper get extended minutes just playing the role he’s meant to play — spotting up around the perimeter, cutting to the basket, crashing the boards, playing defense. Kidd attempted to coax that out against the Jazz, putting Propser in the starting lineup next to Irving, Thompson, and Lively. Funny enough, Prosper was a plus-1, best amongst the Mavericks starters that night. Coincidence? Maybe! (Prosper did play extended minutes in the second half without the starters). But I don’t think you need to be a rocket scientist to know Prosper’s best chance at impacting winning at this stage of his career is being an athletic, defensive-minded role player. I’d just like to see more opportunities for Prosper to do that.
How to watch
Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. CST. You can watch on NBATV, and if that is blacked out in the DFW area, you can stream the game at mavs.com.