The Mavericks will continue their season-long six-game home stand Tuesday against Detroit. But first, we have to throw some bouquets to a few people.
So without any more delay, here’s our takeaways from Sunday’s 103-94 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
TEACHER, TEACHER: Jason Kidd is still honing his coaching skills. But his style is shining through like a beacon. After going with a heavy dose of Josh Green, Trey Burke and Frank Ntilikina when his two starting guards, Luka Dončić and Jalen Brunson, got in foul trouble, Kidd said it wasn’t a hard decision to go with that trio. The fact that it was out of necessity played into his plans, he said. “I’m all about teaching,” Kidd revealed after the victory. “A lot of people are into winning and losing. I’m into teaching, because there’s a bigger picture. It can happen in the playoffs, it can happen in Game 7. Everybody has to be ready. There’s no guarantee that Luka’s not going to pick up four or five fouls. So it was a teaching moment for our team. There’s a lot of respect for someone that has sat. For Trey to sit their for so long and not have a rhythm in an important game and to do his job, that’s a true pro.” All of what Kidd said is absolutely true, except for maybe the part about winning and losing. Everybody in the NBA is into that.
REBOUNDING IS CRITICAL: The Mavericks have been playing more zone defense in the last couple games, which has helped them communicate better and caused opponents to adjust. But the biggest concern with the zone is rebounding. The Mavericks did a great job of limiting Atlanta to 38.9 percent shooting. When you do that, if you can get close to breaking even in the rebounding department, it usually is a winning formula. The Mavericks were only outrebounded 50-48 for the game and the second-chance points (20 for the Hawks) weren’t completely out of control. To get a virtual push rebounding without Kristaps Porzingis and Maxi Kleber was a win for the Mavericks.
LIMITING ICE TRAE: Trae Young is averaging better than 25 points and is an All-Star starter for the Eastern Conference when the game happens in Cleveland on Feb. 20. But against the Mavericks, he shot just 6-of-19 (0-of-6 from 3-point land) and had 17 points. And while he had 11 assists, he also incurred four turnovers. “Just contain him,” Brunson said of the game plan against Young. “He’s so dynamic, gets others involved, gets by you, creates space. He knows how to basically do whatever he wants with the ball. For us, it wasn’t one-on-one. It was being on a string and really helping each other out. We didn’t let him go off, to a certain extent.”
ABOUT THOSE FOULS: It was an interesting night in terms of the fouls that were called on the Mavericks – their point guards in particular. First Dončić got his fifth 53 seconds into the third quarter. Then, five minutes later, Brunson got his fifth. By the time the fourth quarter was going, their backup, Trey Burke had five, as well. “All three of us had 15 together,” Burke said, then saw a punch-line opportunity. “It shows we were guarding, at least.”
POWELL, BULLOCK STEP UP: With their depth depleted in the front court, the Mavericks improvised. Reggie Bullock was inserted as the starter alongside Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell, who already was a replacement for Porzingis. Powell continued to be a solid asset with 12 points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes. He also had two blocked shots and hit 5-of-8 shots. He rarely does things to negatively impact the Mavericks. Meanwhile, Bullock had 22 points and nine rebounds. It was a huge night that included 6-of-10 3-point shooting. Since he’s been a starter most of the last two seasons, Bullock is used to that role. Now it’s going to be interesting to see what Kidd does when his big men start to get healthy.
Twitter: @ESefko
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