In a week, it’ll be Christmas.
The Mavericks have played more than one-third of the regular season.
It’s time to ask that hardest question of them all: are the Mavericks a jump-shooting team that can’t shoot?
The evidence is overwhelming that they are. But you look at the players they have taking the bulk of their 3-pointers and you have a hard time believing that this team really is a 32.8 percent group from outside the arc. That’s 25th out of 30 teams.
“Sometimes,” coach Jason Kidd said. “it becomes a mental thing.”
Looking at the numbers, it’s hard to dispute that.
Tim Hardaway Jr. has been a great 3-point shooter for years. His career percentage is .358 and it’s .378 as a Maverick.
He’s shooting .333 this season.
Reggie Bullock is a career 38.3 percent shooter from distance.
This season? He’s at 27.4 percent.
Kristaps Porzingis? He’s a 35.5 percent shooter from 3 for his career.
This season he’s at 28.8 percent.
Sterling Brown shot 42.3 percent with Houston last season.
This year, Brown is at 27.5 percent.
Jalen Brunson, a career 36.7 percent shooter from beyond the arc is making just 32.5 percent this season.
Even Luka Dončić, who won’t make the trip to Minnesota because of his sore left ankle, is making only 32.6 percent this season, which is down slightly from his career 33.1 percent.
It’s enough to make your head hurt.
If there’s a Santa Claus out there, the Mavericks certainly know what they need to ask for in their Christmas stocking. And there would be no better place to heat up than the frosty environment in Minnesota on Sunday evening (7 p.m. tipoff).
While they are up there, a side trip to the North Pole for an in-person request from the Jolly Fat Man might help.
All they want for Christmas is their 3-point shot.
“We know we have guys struggling shooting the three,” Kidd said. “We just have to stay positive and keep working at it.
“It’ll turn. In this journey, it’s too many games for it to stay this way the whole season. Keep working at it. We can’t stop making that pass. If we start taking tougher twos in the paint, some of them get blocked. Instead of just trusting your teammate is going to knock down the shot.”
In other words, the Mavericks are happy with the shots they are getting.
The results? Not so much.
“It’s hard to get wide-open looks in this league,” Kidd said. “And we’re a team that creates a lot of them. I think we live with the shots we’ve gotten. We just have to make them.”
It’s not for lack of effort. The Mavericks spend a big chunk of their practice time putting up 3-pointers. They have shooting games. They try to put pressure on each other, whether it be by putting a dollar on the line in shooting games or forcing themselves to run sprints for missing.
Players come back to the gym for nighttime sessions.
“We’re doing a lot of shooting drills,” Porzingis said. “We make shots (in practices). It just doesn’t translate to the games lately. They (the coaches) want us to shoot it and they know we can make those shots. History shows we have made shots. It’s just one of those seasons where it doesn’t go our way at first, but sooner or later we’ll turn it around.”
That’s the hope, anyway.
Briefly: In addition to Doncic, the Mavericks will be without Reggie Bullock, who became the first roster member this season to enter the COID-19 health and safety protocols . . . The Mavericks also will be without Frank Ntilikina and Josh Green, who are out with unspecified illnesses . . . Sterling Brown, meanwhile, has been upgraded to probable as he recovers from left foot soreness.
Twitter: @ESefko
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