Key plays, moments and stats for the Mavericks 110 – 102 win over the Jazz
Welcome back to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, a new recurring series at Mavs Moneyball that will look at different aspects of the game that may, but don’t necessarily, show up in the box score. We’ll be looking at the positives, negatives and not so pretty of Monday night’s Dallas Mavericks game against the Utah Jazz. Without further ado, let’s get to it!
The Good
Spencer Dinwiddie’s Defensive Effort
Spencer Dinwiddie logged more minutes in the 1st Quarter of this game than he logged in the first two games of the season combined. This was at least in part due to the rotation-tinkering the team is still experiencing, but regardless, Dinwiddie showed he’s a pro and immediately got to work. With 3:20 left in the first Quarter, he had a huge block on a Keyonte George three-point attempt. This wasn’t a finger-tip block, but rather a full palm-on-the-ball-pull-it-over-the-back-of-the-shooter-and-steal-it type block. A thing of beauty that resulted in a shot-clock violation. He also made a great defensive stand a few minutes later, when he bodied up on Lauri Markkanen causing him to abandon a post-up attempt and instead pass it away.
Spencer Dinwiddie’s 3rd Quarter
Dinwiddie had 11 points in the third Quarter, going a perfect 3-for-3 on threes to help build up a Mavs lead that had largely dwindled after Luka picked up a technical foul (see The Ugly below).
Dunks
For two games, dunks seemed hard to come by. In the first quarter-and-a-half of this one, the Mavericks had four dunks. I generally don’t put huge emphasis on dunks as a specific stat, but for a Mavericks team that incorporates the alley-oop and explosive dunks in general, it was nice to see what had been a big part of their identity last season.
P.J.’s Double-Double
Washington looked like the player we saw last year. 12 points, 11 rebounds, efficient shooting (54.5%) and doing all the little things made a big difference in this game. He couldn’t find the range on 4 attempts from three, but otherwise played great and helped the team get the W.
The Bad
Luka’s Shooting
Luka had a rough evening, going 5-for-22. He started off with a cold 1-for-10, so there was slight improvement as the night went on, but surely one everyone will look to forget.
Gelling
Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes still seem to be finding their way. I almost hesitated from categorizing this under “Bad,” since we’re only three games into the season and everyone is still adjusting to their roles and teammates. Also, in Marshall’s case he had a nice rebounding haul with 6 and offered some intangibles as well. Generally speaking, the sooner these two can find their groove, the sooner the Mavs will find another level.
The Ugly
Luka and the Refs
Around the 11:00 minute mark of the second Quarter, Luka got Lauri Markkanen switched on him and went to work. He pulled up for an elbow jumper, missed, and ended up on the ground. Feeling he was fouled, he remained on the ground glaring at referee Marc Davis. With a five-on-four advantage, the Jazz went down court and Collin Sexton immediately nailed a three. We’ve seen this before and everyone (including Luka) knows he needs to work on this, but it would be nice if this was finally the last time it happens. He also picked up a technical foul, which although it did not strike me as all that warranted, it nonetheless gives him one on the ledger very early in the season. The Jazz promptly ripped off an 8-0 run after the whistle.