Three reasons to be proud of these Mavs as they close the 2024 calendar in Sacramento

Despite current challenges, the future is bright in Dallas

The Dallas Mavericks (20-12, 10-7 away) visit the Sacramento Kings (13-19, 6-12 home) to close out the 2024 calendar year. The Mavericks arrive after splitting the first two games of this road trip – a gutty 98-89 defensive gem in Phoenix followed by a furious comeback in Portland that came up just short, 126-122.

Dallas’s depth is tested as the new year dawns and trade deadline talk heats up. While the current scenario of suspensions and injuries is not ideal, there are reasons to be very proud of this group of Dallas Mavericks as they head into this matchup with SacTown.

Standing on Business

After a lifetime of watching Mavericks basketball, I have accepted the dynamic of regular-season games mostly becoming a blur. Ask me what happened last week or last month, and without the benefit of the interweb machine—well, you would stump the band Doc Severinsen style pretty quick.

Yet what I do remember are moments. If you are like me, Naji Marshall’s response to the physical disrespect and overall weirdness of Jusuf Nurkic is going to remain etched in your brain for years to come. What exactly did Nurkic think was going to happen when he half-sidearm clubbed and half-caressed Marshall’s cranium? It is one thing to talk trash, happens all the time. It is another to throw a punch, relatively rare in the NBA but not inherently disrespectful. Regardless of what Marshall said to Nurkic after he steamrolled Gafford with a clear cheap shot, Nurkic settled on something more than a war of words and decidedly less than taking a swing. What Nurkic settled on was to punk Marhsall and that did not go over well at all – as the Phoenix center found out about eight-tenths of a second later.

What does the Marshall response and Washington reliably backing him up with a shove that probably kept things from getting even worse – both for Nurkic facial structure and the length of Marshall’s suspension – tell us about this Maverick squad? They are not soft, not to be trifled with, and ready to stand up to bullies on the court.

This means the world to any fan base and any locker room. For years the Mavericks were cast as “soft” – particularly in the Dirk era. As right or wrong as that label was for any of those years, the reputation persisted until Tyson Chandler and others galvanized to form a very tough title-winning team in 2011. Locker rooms that stand up for each other brew strong chemistry for the long haul of an NBA season – as well as win the hearts of their fan base. Naji Marshall and PJ Washington handled business in the moment and the buoying impact of that cannot be overstated.

Kyrie Irving and his teammates played their hearts out the very next night in a game that was picking up their suspended teammates as much or more as it was notching a win in Portland. Missing four rotation players, Dallas fought valiantly in as impressive a shorthanded regular season defeat as recent memory holds.

“No Class, No Balls”

In case you missed it, the Kings decided to jettison their head coach for “underperforming” just a few months after he guided them to the two best regular season results in many years – ending a long playoff drought.

Nuggets coach Mike Malone – who experienced his unceremonious ouster from Sacramento a few years ago – puts it succinctly in this brief video clip:

Firing people – including NBA coaches – is nothing new and often warranted. In this case, the merits of moving on from Mike Brown feel more like a convenient scapegoat rather than a case of a coaching tenure running its course. More important is how it’s done and as Malone suggests, a lack of humanity and a lack of courage appear to be at play here. Firing a coach over the phone out of the blue is akin to breaking up with your significant other over text message when you have no reason to fear doing so in person. There is a way to maintain the dignity of both sides during any decoupling. Sadly, the Kings’ brain trust is unaware of this truth.

By contrast, two deep playoff runs have made Jason Kidd a fixture in Dallas. More importantly, a fair reading of Nico Harrison’s character heavily suggests that if any coaching change is ever needed during his time as Mavs GM, he will handle it with grace and class – something the Mavericks fan base can be proud of.

Depth Charge

A question I have often asked during the Luka Doncic era – how good is this team without Luka on the floor – is very relevant for the next few weeks. Despite the comeback failing short in Portland, Dallas has a winning record without Doncic. The Mavericks will see PJ Washington slide back into the lineup after a one-game suspension and Dereck Lively II is listed as a game-time decision as he recovers from a hip issue suffered on Christmas day.

The upside to this roster’s playable depth is front and center during moments of unforeseen absences. While all players have strengths and weaknesses, Dallas can field NBA-caliber players even when missing four rotation cogs. Just reflecting on the 6- and 7-man rotations of previous seasons, any missed time was glaring on those teams. Not this year, not this group.

As we watch Dallas take on the Kings down 2 or 3 key pieces, Maverick fans can take pride in the contending roster the team currently enjoys. They are more than capable of winning this game and keeping themselves in the playoff picture while we await for #77 to be fully ready to go sometime in early 2025.

Where to watch

This Game will be on channel 29 and MavsTV. Also on Playback!