Point guard, shooting guard, starter, reserve: No matter how he was used this season, Raymond Felton always produced.
Felton’s season sort of came full circle in the playoffs. After leading the team in scoring as a shooting guard on opening night in October, Felton once again found himself at the helm of the Mavs’ offense in the final game of the season, but this time as a point guard. Injuries limited the club early in the season and late as well, yet Felton was there not only to fill the cracks, but also guide Dallas down Rick Carlisle’s offensive superhighway.
Chandler Parsons missed the entire postseason as he recovered from knee surgery, Deron Williams essentially missed the final three games of the playoffs, and J.J. Barea was severely physically limited in his four appearances. That meant a ton of responsibility was heaped onto Felton’s sturdy shoulders, but he was clearly up for the challenge. He averaged 15.0 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game against the Thunder, and became just the third Maverick ever to record both a points-assists and points-rebounds double-double in the same postseason, joining Michael Finley (2001) and Mark Aguirre (1986), per Basketball-Reference.
His ability to drive the ball was the contribution his team most sorely needed. With no Parsons and Williams and with a limited Barea, the perimeter wasn’t chock full of guys who could attack off the bounce. Felton certainly did his best to fill that void, averaging a team-high 8.6 drives per game in the playoffs, well above his season average of 5.3, per SportVU. Felton scored 5.2 points per game himself from those rim attacks, in addition to drawing three fouls across the team’s five playoff games.
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His performance in Game 2 was perhaps his finest of the season, scoring a team-high 21 points as the Mavericks secured an 85-84 road win in Oklahoma City. After the game Felton said he was “sick” to miss two free throws which could have given the Mavs a bigger lead with less than 10 seconds to play, but a Thunder bucket on the ensuing possession came after the buzzer and, despite Felton’s frustration, Dallas won the game anyway.
This season’s Mavericks team could be characterized by its resiliency and sense of pride. On the heels of a disappointing performance in Game 1, the Mavs became just the fourth team in 14 tries in NBA history to win Game 2 following a loss in the series opener by 35 or more points, per Basketball-Reference. Plenty of players typified that mentality, but Wesley Matthews and Felton were perhaps chief among them. After the Mavs’ Game 2 win, Felton said his team’s Game 1 performance was simply below the standard.
“We all knew that that wasn’t acceptable,” he said. “That’s not Dallas Mavericks basketball. That was just a disgrace to the city of Dallas, to the fans of Dallas, and to ourselves and our families. It was just an embarrassment on national television to get beat like that. We were coming in for a dog fight no matter what. Even if we didn’t come out with the win, we were gonna come out and give them a fight.”
So what did he do as a response? He led his team in scoring, recorded a double-double, and Dallas got the win. That’s Raymond Felton for you.
It’s hard not to admire the various levels of swag Felton is capable of reaching on any given night. More than any other player on this team, you know when he gets cooking. Whether it’s some high-dribbling or a few between-the-legs crossovers, Felton has a tendency to let everyone know when he’s feeling confident.
And that led to one of the better Mavs videos of the season. (There’s a lot going on in here, so take your time going through it. Rewind if you have to.)
As is the case with many others in the locker room, though, Felton’s attention is now turned toward free agency. The guard said during his exit interview that he’d love to be back in Dallas and plans on buying a home here whether or not he returns to the Mavs, but his basketball fate will not ultimately be determined for another two months. Felton played well enough from October through April to earn a new contract with the Mavericks, but plenty of other teams will surely have interest in the combo guard, especially after witnessing his play in the postseason. Felton stepped up to the plate when his team needed him most, and that’s a quality all 30 general managers in this league crave. It’s one the Mavericks were certainly lucky to have this season.
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