With the two new kids on the block, Mavs thinking long-term

After he saw his team completely shred the highly-regarded Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday afternoon, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was already thinking long-term.

Long-term as in imagining what different combinations he can put on the court now that his two new players – Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington – are already fitting in like a glove after just one game.

Both Gafford and Washington picked up the Mavs’ offensive and defensive schemes right away, which no one thought would happen so soon. And because they did, the Mavs were able to hand the Thunder their worst defeat of the season, 146-111.

The fact that the Mavs won while two of their starters – Dereck Lively II (nasal fracture) and Dante Exum (right knee bursitis) — are on the mend has Kidd thinking what lies ahead whenever those two players are ready to play again.

“Now as we get healthy here, we’ll look at D-Live or Gafford starting and we can play big with (Gafford) at the (power forward position),” Kidd said. “But also, now it gives us depth to be able to bring (Gafford) off the bench and be able to play (Gafford) at the (power forward) or (center position).”

In essence, when the Mavs are matched up against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that features 7-1 Rudy Gobert and 7-foot Karl-Anthony Towns in their starting lineup, the Mavs can counter by starting Lively (7-1) and Gafford (6-10) or possibly even Maxi Kleber (6-10).

“When (Gafford is) at the (power forward spot), we can continue to be big,” Kidd said. “There’s a lot of good options here.

“We’re going to work through it here before the (All-Star) break, and then after the break. But it’s good to have these options because we didn’t have these options earlier.”

Options are now plentiful because of the athleticism and versatility Washington and Gafford brings to the table. The two newcomers got into Saturday’s game together for the first time with 5:23 remaining in the first quarter and were greeted with a warm standing ovation by the sellout crowd.

It was as if the fans knew the duo wasn’t just a couple of players the Mavs traded for to fill out their roster. The fans could sense the two Thursday trades which landed Gafford and Washington in Dallas could be a game-changer for the Mavs. A possible championship game-changer.

A Mavs team that has been so reliant on the three-point shot this season actually attacked the basket and outscored OKC in the paint by a whopping 66-34 margin. In a way, the Mavs were sending an emergency alarm to the other 29 teams that from here on out they won’t just be living by the three-point shot alone.

“I think it’s important as we go on this journey to find out who we are,” Kidd said. “We’ve been a team that will shoot a lot of threes. There’s going to be nights when we do that because of the double-teams.

“But I think, just one of the plays that stands out is when you see (Derrick) Jones (Jr.) drives it, throws it to P.J., and P.J. re-drives it and throws it back to him for a dunk.”

It’s a play the Mavs can mix in alongside the insane dominance of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.

“Just the ability to have athletes who can put the ball on the floor and not have to worry about Luka and (Irving) doing all the work (is nice),” Kidd said. “There’s going to be nights where we shoot 45 to 47 threes, and there’s going to be nights where we can dominate the paint like we did (Saturday).”

Here are the three takeaways from the Mavs’ 35-point win over the Thunder.

SUPER PERFORMANCE: Part of the reason the Mavs were able to win so decisively was because the ball was hopping all around the court, and so many players were involved in the offense. In all, the Mavs had seven players score at least 10 points. That’s only the third time they’ve accomplished that feat this season. The Mavs also had seven players tally 10 or more points against Charlotte on Nov. 5 and against San Antonio on Dec. 23. Luka Dončić led the way with 32 points, Kyrie Irving scored 25 points, Daniel Gafford collected 19 points, P.J. Washington tallied 14 points, Maxi Kleber tossed in 12 points, Jaden Hardy poured in 11 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 10 points.

OFF TO THE RACES: Not only did the Mavs put on a shooting clinic on Saturday. They also put on a track meet. The 35 fast break points the Mavs scored were the most they’ve scored this season other than the 36 fast break points they tallied against Portland on Jan. 5. The Mavs made all 13 of their fast break basket attempts against the Thunder. They also shot a red-hot 58.2 percent from the field and 39.5 percent (15-of-38) from beyond the three-point arc. By the way, OKC scored just two fast break points.

PLUS/MINUS: How dominant were the Mavs against the Thunder on Saturday? Well, 13 of the 14 OKC players who played ended the game with a negative plus/minus. That includes All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with a game-low plus/minus of minus 31. Also, Gilgeous-Alexander’s backcourt mate, Josh Giddy, had a plus/minus of minus 23. The only OKC player who didn’t have a negative plus/minus was Aleksej Pokusevski, who played six minutes and had a plus/minus of zero.

X: @DwainPrice