In sports, kind of like in life, when you have a good thing going, you try to ride it as long as you can.
If it flames out before achieving greatness, it’s probably time to change.
For the Mavericks, it definitely was time to change.
They had a good thing going when they won seven games in a row and coach Jason Kidd was justified in going with it as long as he could.
Then, hard times hit.
On Thursday, with five losses in six games as his ammo, he pulled the trigger and made changes that helped procure a 114-108 win over Miami at American Airlines Center.
Kidd took youngsters Dereck Lively II and Josh Green out of the starting lineup. In their place went Daniel Gafford and Derrick Jones Jr., both more experienced and both owning the ability to bring something a little different to the lineup.
It was a move that, for the first game at least, benefited almost everybody involved, plus was a bonus for everybody else on the roster, too.
Mostly, it energized a bench that had been lagging of late. Lively, the rookie center, in particular was a plus-17 on the court during his 23 minutes. He helped close out the game with a key offensive rebound and was part of the reason the Mavericks were able to keep Heat center Bam Adebayo under wraps.
“I thought D-Live did a great job,” Kidd said. “He came up with a big stop and then the offensive rebound was big for us. His length on Bam there at the end. He made him miss. And we got the stops when we had to.”
The only downer came when Lively bumped knees with Adebayo late in the game. His status for the road trip that starts Saturday at Detroit will be evaluated on Friday.
Here’s our other takeaways from the desperately needed win over the Heat.
Defense rises up: Proving that the Mavericks are not totally bankrupt on the defensive end of the floor, they shut down the Heat for the last three quarters, allowing only 22, 25 and 25 points in those frames. “After the first quarter, I thought the units out there were really good,” Kidd said. “Just being tied together. There’s going to be ups and downs. The group that started, we got back-doored a little too much making sure Duncan (Robinson) wasn’t going to shoot threes. I thought the guys mentally stayed the course and we had a good home win.” After making 15 of their 21 first-quarter shots, the Heat were just 25-of-61 (41 percent) the rest of the way. “Too many back doors, too many layups,” said Dante Exum. “Once we kind of stopped that, the game was ours.”
Exum makes a statement: Kidd will have a little more to think about when it comes to playing rotations after the performance of Exum. After missing more than a month with foot and knee issues, Exum has been eased back into the rotation, but he barged into it on Thursday with 13 points, five assists and four rebounds in just 17 minutes. He had a game-swaying three-pointer when the outcome still was teetering. “He doesn’t panic,” Kidd said. “He came in and helped Luka not have to bring the ball up, but also found Luka and also his teammates easy shots. The trust that Kai and Luka have late in the game with the double teams and being able to knock down a three and a jump shot and the most important part of all that was being able to make the free throws. He was good on both ends and we missed him.”
Heroes don’t all come with big stats: The Mavericks have an unsung hero and his name is Markieff Morris. The 12-year veteran hardly plays in games, but he’s a major voice when it comes to keeping it real and pumping up the positivity in the locker room. “With Markieff talking, we need that,” Kidd said. “A lot of times with a peer, it’s probably heard a little more. Leaders come in all shapes. They don’t have to make $40-million and they don’t have to play 40 minutes. So, he’s been a big part of our season even though you don’t see it in the stat sheet. He’s a big part of our success and a big part of our family.”
X: @ESefko
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