DALLAS – These extra days between games have been very beneficial to the Dallas Mavericks.
It has enabled them to have more days at their disposal for players to get healthy before the next game comes calling. And it also has enabled the coaches extra time to implement more teaching.
For instance, the Mavs last played a game this past Saturday at home when they dispatched the Boston Celtics, 113-104. Then they took Sunday off, practiced on Monday, and practiced again on Tuesday before taking their charter flight to Houston, where they’ll play the Rockets on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Indeed, having two or three off days between games is luxury any team would crave. It’s like eating ice cream on a sunny day at the beach.
But. . .
“As times goes on, practice days are going to diminish,” coach Rick Carlisle said after Tuesday’s practice session at the Lympo practice facilities. “We’re going to get in a very busy stretch upcoming, but that’s OK.”
Starting with Sunday’s home game against the Los Angles Clippers, the Mavs will play seven games in 12 days. Although practice time will almost come to a halt, the good thing for the Mavs is that five of those games are on their home court.
But during a 10-day stretch from Dec. 22-31, the Mavs will play five games in five different cities.
With practice time slowing to a crawl, the Mavs are working overtime to make sure they’ve dotted all their I’s and crossed all of their Ts in an effort to get the nuances of the game under wrap.
“We’ve got to make this stuff stick long-term so that you can get through the busy stretches,” Carlisle said. “And that’s certainly our goal.”
One strategy the Mavs are working on surrounds switching on defense, since it appears that’s all the rage in the NBA today.
“We’re not going willy nilly with it,” Carlisle said. “Houston is a very liberal switching team themselves, so we need to work against it. We’re obviously doing segments where we’re doing that, and really the league in general is going to more switching.
“It’s a little bit like when zone defense became legal in 2001, there was an adjustment. NBA player s had to learn how to attack zones. It took a couple or three years and all of a sudden when NBA players saw zone they were like ‘yes,’ whereas initially there were times of trepidation about it.”
That trepidation has apparently swung over to team’s ability to switch on defense. Those who don’t perfect the necessary changes usually wind up allowing a layup or a wide open jump shot.
“But yeah, switching is real reality, really at all levels of basketball now,” Carlisle said. “We’re doing more than we’ve done in the past.
“We’re seeing more than we’ve ever seen as we’re attacking on offense.”
Speaking of attacking, the Mavs know they’ll see more than their share of forays to the basket on Wednesday when facing Rockets guard James Harden. In Monday’s 135-131 overtime loss in Washington, Harden scored a season-high 54 points, grabbed eight rebounds and distributed 13 assists.
Carlisle described Harden as a player who, over the years, have been difficult for the Mavs to guard.
“He’s a great player, an amazing player,” Carlisle said. “So we’re going to have to be ready to throw the kitchen sink at him.
“Guys like him you’ve got make him miss somehow, but it’s not easy.”
NOTES: Rookie Luka Doncic missed Tuesday’s practice with an illness, but he did make the flight to Houston. Doncic leads the Mavs in scoring with 19.1 ppg, and has scored 20 or more points in nine games this season. . .Coach Rick Carlisle said center/forward Dwight Powell (left knee effusion) continues to improve. Carlisle said he’s optimistic Powell – he’s missed the last three games — will be available to play against the Rockets. . .Point guard Dennis Smith Jr. (sprained right wrist) is expected to play against the Rockets. . .The Mavs are 9-9 on the season, half-a-game ahead of the Rockets (9-10), who advanced to last season’s Western Conference Finals.
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