With most of their top players injured, Mavs are ‘built on team’

With four starters now on the injury list, Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd acknowledged that at the moment he doesn’t have a clear-cut number one offensive option on his team.

The situation at this point just doesn’t call for that.

“No, there’s no number one option,” Kidd said following Friday’s disappointing 122-111 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. “Everyone touches it and whoever is open shoots it.

“We don’t have a number one or a number two. We’re not built like that right now. We’re built on team.”

The Mavs’ normal number one option, guard Kyrie Irving, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Monday’s game against the Sacramento Kings and is out for the remainder of the season. And the Mavs don’t have a firm date on when their number two option, Anthony Davis, will return to the court as he’s recuperating from a left adductor strain.

In the meantime, Kidd said: “If someone has to sacrifice, drive it, and if you get a layup, take it. If not, pitch it out. If you create a wide open three, you’ve got to take it. This isn’t to run plays for one person.

“Klay (Thompson) is one of the best. He’s a future hall of famer, but we got to set screens and create those opportunities for him. To say that we have a one or a two, it’s a group.”

Reserve guard Brandon Williams came off the bench against the Grizzlies and played like a number one option. The two-way player used his high motor to score a career-high 31 points, and was 10-of-15 from the field and 4-of-8 from downtown while also grabbing five rebounds and distributing six assists and becoming the 19^th player in Mavs history to score at least 30 points off the bench.

“No one thought B-Will was going to have 31, but he was our number one (Friday),” Kidd said. “It’s going to be a group effort every night. It’s going to be someone different, and that means that we can be dangerous, because no one can load up on one person and we got to take advantage of that, and the guys that are going to get minutes are going to have great opportunities.

“B-Will took full advantage of his minutes and was aggressive. And that’s a great compliment to him and the development of the group that’s around him to make sure that he’s ready to play, and he showed that, not just (Friday), but in Milwaukee, too (this past Wednesday).”

Here are the takeaways from the 11-point loss to the Grizzlies.

MARSHALL HAD A CAREER NIGHT: Mavs forward Naji Marshall had one of those games for the ages that he’ll never forget. Not only did Marshall pour in a career-high 29 points. (He once scored 54 points in a high school game). But he also collected a career-high 17 rebounds and picked up a pair of steals against the Grizzlies. Marshall joins PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford and Anthony Davis as the only Mavs players with a 25-point, 15-rebound game this season. He also is the 21^st player in franchise history to accomplish this feat. The monster night by Marshall included him converting 10-of-23 shots in a career-high 40 minutes. It’s the most minutes Marshall has played since he was on the court for back-to-back 39-minute performances against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 30, 2022 and the LA Lakers on Nov. 2, 2022 while he was a member of the New Orleans Pelicans.

MORANT TAKEOVER: The Mavs were hanging tough with and threatening to upset one of the best teams the NBA has to offer. Then, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant decided to take matters into his own hands. Not only did Morant collect an assist on a Demond Bane basket which put Memphis ahead for good at 110-108 with 3:58 remaining in the game. But with the Grizzlies clinging to a precarious 115-111 lead with 2:06 left, Morant proceeded to score the game’s final seven points on a pair of six-footers and a three-pointer. The Mavs made him work hard, but Morant finished the game with 31 points and eight assists. He also was 13-of-29 from the field, including just 1-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc.

GRIZZLIES LIVED IN THE PAINT: The Grizzlies made quite a good living packing the paint on Friday night. When it was all said and done, Memphis outscored the Mavs in the paint by a decisive 74-38 margin. In other words, 60.7 percent of the points Memphis scored came inside the paint where they knew they could flourish because the Mavs’ primary frontline players are all out nursing injuries. The Grizzlies attempted 106 field goals with 74 of them coming inside the paint. And 37 of their 50 made field goals came inside the paint. They also outrebounded the Mavs, 60-45, including 18-11 on the offensive end of the floor.

X: @DwainPrice