If you ask most people who the most efficient Maverick is, they’d probably say Luka Dončić.
Most people would probably be wrong.
At least by one gauge.
Boban Marjanović, the lovable lug who sees occasional playing time and, periodically, plays an important role when situations call for it, is on a remarkable tear so far this season when it comes to productivity.
He’s averaging a point per minute.
Not for a game, mind you. But for the season.
Marjanović averages .937 points per minute. OK, so it’s a fraction off of being a point a minute. When you have 59 points in 63 minutes played, you are getting work done.
Compare that to Dončić (.738 points per minute) or Kristaps Porzingis (.648) and you realize the crazy efficiency with which Marjanović is putting the ball into the basket.
The 7-4, 290-pound Serbian has always been a situational player. And he’s OK with that. He’s played roughly half the games this season, but whenever he’s gotten action, he has almost always had a positive impact on the offensive end of the floor.
His midrange game out to 15 feet is a weapon. And, of course, he’s a beast when it comes to offensive rebounding and putbacks at the rim.
That’s why he’s been able to make more than 70 percent of his shots so far.
At age 33, he and the Mavericks know there are times when he simply can’t be on the court. When opponents play smaller lineups, he becomes a liability on defense.
But when they play a bigger center or two big players, that’s when Marjanović has taken advantage.
In a 15-minute appearance against San Antonio last month – his longest run of the season – he had 17 points to go with five rebounds. He also had 10 points in eight minutes of playing time against Cleveland on Monday.
It was during that San Antonio game when Boban had his biggest impact of the season. His job in the final 2.7 seconds was to provide interference for the Spurs’ trigger man as they tried to inbound the ball for a potential tying or winning basket.
“You got to win these close games and that last play was big for us,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Boban did a great job of making it go as high as possible and give us a chance to deflect it or intercept it.”
The game was saved because of it.
For a player making a modest salary (by NBA standards, $3.5 million) saving a game like that is called earning virtually all of that paycheck.
It’s what Marjanović does. And of course he always has looks at life through Boban eyes.
“I am lucky to do what I do and enjoy life,” he has said many times. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But your mind has to be ready for the next game and focused for the next win.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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