CHARLOTTE, N. C. – From a competitive and pride standpoint, the Dallas Mavericks won’t fully admit that their plethora of injuries have
compromised their ability to win games on a consistent basis.
Their DNA won’t allow for such a confession. But the proof is in the pudding.
The Mavs were without Luka Dončić (left calf strain), Dereck Lively II (right ankle sprain), Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain), Quentin Grimes (back spasms), Dwight Powell (right hip strain) and Dante Exum (right wrist surgery) during Monday’s 110-105 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
That’s like the world champion Boston Celtics playing without Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet. Or the Oklahoma City Thunder playing without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace.
The pain of losing players of that caliber will be felt, no matter if the team continues to say it’s a next-man-up mentality type of situation.
Plus, NBA titles are not won with a team’s best players on the bench in street clothes. It just does not happen.
Dončić, the Mavs’ starting point guard and a five-time All-Star, has missed 21 of his team’s 43 games. And the Mavs are 10-11 when he’s been sidelined.
Also, Lively, one of the NBA’s promising young centers, has missed 11 games. Hardy and Grimes are crucial pieces in the Mavs’ attack, while Exum was expected to be in their rotation following an effective year last season, but hasn’t played this season after getting injured in training camp.
“It (would) be nice at this juncture in the season to have everybody healthy, and also to not miss as many games as I’ve missed,” guard Kyrie Irving said. “I’ve missed 10 of them. That’s not any goal that I set. Coming into this season I wanted to play as many games as possible.”
Even on a Monday when Irving scored a game-high 33 points while playing a grueling 41 minutes, the Mavs failed to beat a Charlotte team that was 10-28 and one of the worst teams in the NBA. That’s because, due to the injuries, they’ve been a shell of themselves.
The Mavs have been going to battle with a very short stick. And those – with all respect to their opponents — are not excuses. Those are facts!
“With the MRI coming back on my back (last week), and D-Live going down, and then Luka going down, and Jaden Hardy going down, and people missing games, it’s unfortunate,” Irving said. “It definitely hurts emotionally, seeing some of our guys down.”
Even on a day when center Daniel Gafford turned in the best game of his career, that was not enough to upend the Hornets.
“We just push each other to be the best that we can be,” said Gafford, who scored a career-high 31 points, snatched 15 rebounds and blocked seven shots against Charlotte. “We got a lot of guys hurt, so we just have to have that mindset of just come out and just be there for each other.”
The Mavs left Charlotte with a 23-20 record. And their next three games are against three of the four teams they played in last year’s playoffs – Minnesota, OKC and Boston.
That next man up mentality is a good sound bite, but. . .
“Again, nobody’s going to feel bad (for an injured opponent) in this league,” Irving said. “Everybody is going to want to beat us, which is rightfully so.
“We’re going to have to respond and continue to be mature about the next man up mentality and play our best basketball. We’re giving a lot of young guys opportunities to grow and learn, and that’s also part of our league, too.”
Despite a 3-9 record in their last 12 games, the defending Western Conference champions still believe they’re one of the NBA’s elite teams – when healthy. But the Mavs not having a totally healthy roster for any games this season has hampered their ability to show everyone their elite status.
“When injuries occur, you got to give other opportunities to guys and I think we’re doing a good job of just trying to find a gel,” Irving said. “But the last 12 games haven’t been the best reflection of us and who we are. We’re still working towards the same goals. We just got to do our best with who we have in the lineup now and continue to feed each other confidence.”
Here are the three takeaways from the five-point loss to the Hornets.
*While carrying the weight of the Mavs on his shoulders, guard Kyrie Irving had a monster game Monday. The eight-time All-Star scored a game-high 33 points and also contributed four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Irving was 11-of-24 from the field, 3-of-8 from three-point territory and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.
*Whatever center Daniel Gafford ate for his pre-game meal on Monday, he may want to seriously consider eating that again and again. Monday turned out to be the best NBA game Gafford has ever played. The six-year veteran scored a career-high 31 points, dragged down 15 rebounds, and blocked a season-high seven shots in a season-high tying 34 minutes. He also was 12-of-15 from the field, converted all seven of his free throw attempts, and collected eight of the Mavs’ 16 offensive rebounds.
*LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Nick Smith Jr. tallied 65 of Charlotte’s 110 points. Ball finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, Bridges contributed 23 points and five rebounds and was 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc, and Smith added 19 points and was 5-of-8 from downtown.
X: @DwainPrice
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