Assigning grades for each of the Mavericks’ players in their 114-113 loss to the Suns
The Dallas Mavericks came into tonight’s matchup with the Phoenix Suns looking to end their five-game homestand on a positive note, while also getting a measure of revenge for their loss to the Suns in the second game of the season. After falling behind early, the Mavs made a furious comeback, but ultimately fell short in no small part due to their inability to secure rebounds after getting stops, giving the Suns far too many second chance points. The Mavs registered a losing record (2-3) on their five-game homestand and fell to 5-4 overall on the season while the Suns stayed red hot and now hold a 2-0 advantage in the season series. This is an interesting one to grade, as a lot of little things played a part in the evaluations. Let’s get to the grades!
Luka Doncic: B+
30 Points / 7 Rebounds / 7 Assists / 1 Steal / 0 Blocks
Luka put up his usual impressive numbers for the most part, even finding his shooting stroke from three (despite missing a distant potential game winner) where he went 5-for-12, but the box score doesn’t tell the whole story in this one. He was blown by far too frequently on the defensive end which either resulted in an easy layup, or otherwise collapsed the defense resulting in an open mid-range jumper or three. On a night where the team shot 51.2%, you’d like to see a bit more ball movement and a higher assist total.
Kyrie Irving: A
29 Points / 7 Rebounds / 6 Assists / 3 Steals / 0 Blocks
Kyrie did just about everything tonight. He was clutch throughout the night, with ridiculous finishes and three-pointers that looked good before he released them, while also playing aggressive defense. The hot three-point shooting we got used to cooled off a bit tonight, though he shot 58.8% overall on 17 shots. His very uncharacteristic misses on two free throws ironically would have been the difference in the final score.
Klay Thompson: C+
12 Points / 4 Rebounds / 2 Assists / 0 Steals / 0 Blocks
Thompson had a nice game doing all the little things, including a couple really nice passes and stout defense. Unfortunately he had a poor game doing the primary thing he is here to do, and that is shoot. 4-for-13 overall and 1-for-7 from three won’t cut it, even if the one three was a huge one that gave the Mavs the lead, cracking the 100 point barrier. This loss doesn’t fall on any one player, but had Klay even had a mediocre game, the result in this one is different.
Naji Marshall: B+
18 Points / 5 Rebounds / 0 Assists / 0 Steals / 0 Blocks
Marshall had another nice game, and may just yet start some rumblings as to whether he should be starting over P.J. Washington once he returns from injury. He shot 58.3% from the floor and 2-for-6 from three. His lack of assists or steals definitely stand out, however, but he gets the “+” after his grade for the little things he did and some heady defensive efforts that won’t show in the box score.
Daniel Gafford: B
15 Points / 7 Rebounds / 0 Assists / 1 Steal / 0 Blocks
Gafford had a Gafford game on the surface, even draining two pressure free throws (3-for-3 for the game) and going 6-for-7 from the floor with some nice finishes on little hooks shots as well as dunks. On the other side of the coin, he fouled out, with his sixth and final foul coming with 0.8 seconds left in the game, ultimately proving to be the difference. Gafford is somewhat difficult to grade in this one, as some of his glaring problems (like guarding out in space) are simply not his strengths, but were necessary in this game with Dereck Lively sidelined. I think it’s also fair to say even a single block would be a reasonable baseline expectation.
Dwight Powell: A
4 Points / 6 Rebounds / 1 Assists / 0 Steals / 1 Block
Even grading to scale, this one may not seem A-worthy, but Powell did just about everything right tonight. Throughout the game, I found myself catching him doing something clever or savvy, putting himself in the right spots and giving ceaseless effort. Yes, they were virtually all little things, but on a night without Derek Lively, Powell played his game about as well as can be expected.
You can listen to our latest podcast episode in the player embedded below, and to make sure you don’t miss a single one moving forward, subscribe to the Pod Maverick podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Pocketcasts, YouTube, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox.
You can check out our After Dark Recap podcasts, YouTube Live recordings, and guest shows on the Pod Maverick Podcast feed. Please subscribe, rate, and review.