The Twin Tower concept has been tried before many times in the NBA with great success.
The Houston Rockets used it in the 1980s with Hakeem Olajuwon (7-0) and Ralph Sampson (7-4). The Boston Celtics perfected about the same time with Kevin McHale (6-10) and Robert Parish (7-0).
The San Antonio Spurs became a force with a big lineup that included Tim Duncan (6-11) and David Robinson (7-1), using it to win NBA titles in 1999 and 2003. Milwaukee cashed in and captured the 2021 NBA championship with big players Giannis Antetokounmpo (6-11) and Brook Lopez (7-1) on the front line.
And the Denver Nuggets rode their big front wall of Nikola Jokic (6-11) and Michael Porter Jr. (6-10) to a championship in 2023.
Now, the Mavs are stepping up to the plate to see if they can ride a big man lineup to an NBA championship. If first impressions are any indications, the Mavs may be on to something wonderful.
In Saturday’s 116-105 triumph over the Houston Rockets, the Mavs started Anthony Davis (6-10) at power forward alongside center Daniel Gafford (6-10). The results?
Davis finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in 31 minutes, and Gafford collected five points, nine rebounds and six blocks in 26 minutes. In all, the Mavs recorded a franchise-record 18 blocked shots with the big lineup.
It caused the Rockets to start Steven Adams (6-11) alongside Alperen Sengun (6-11) in the second half.
“That’s a compliment,” Gafford said, “because they’re trying to find ways to prevent what happened in the first half.”
Reacting to the Rockets’ second-half lineup of Adams and Sengun, Davis said: “I don’t know of a lot of teams that actually have the luxury of having two bigs like that, but we’ll be prepared for it. Obviously, it’s something new for us. We haven’t really had a real chance to work on anything.”
Actually, Gafford frequently played on the frontline alongside Kristaps Porzingis (7-2) after the Mavs traded the latter to the Washington Wizards on Feb. 10, 2022, in a deal that brought Spencer Dinwiddie to Dallas.
“This is kind of like my second time being out there with a fella big,” Gafford said. “We (he and Porzingis) shared the floor for a good amount, and it went good. It’s a different feeling with a big fella out there on the floor.”
When Mavs coach Jason Kidd was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers, at times the Lakers started Dwight Howard (6-10) and Davis on the front line. That big ball strategy helped Davis, Kidd and the Lakers win the 2020 NBA title.
The Mavs showed right away how effective a big lineup can be when Davis opened Saturday’s game against Houston with a pass to Gafford for a lob dunk. That brought some electricity to American Airlines Center.
“With a lob threat like that it kind of reminds me of my team I had with the Lakers when we won,” Davis said. “(Gafford is) just tough to double now.
“If you double me as his man comes off, I’ll just throw it to the rim and he’s a vertical threat. I’ll just throw it up and he goes and gets it, so teams have to be leery of that.”
It’s a concept the Cleveland Cavaliers have used with Evan Mobley (6-11) and Jarrett Allen (6-9) in the starting lineup while racing to the second-best record in the NBA at 42-10.
“I think the main thing that was said whenever the trade (for Davis) first happened, it’s just like everybody is playing big now,” Gafford said. “J-Kidd was talking about just piggy-backing on how Cleveland is playing.”
The Mavs know whenever center Dereck Lively II (7-1) returns from rehabbing a right ankle stress fracture, they’ll have another option to continue using the formidable Twin Towers lineup.
“We’ve got three of them now — me, AD and D-Live,” Gafford said. “Now it’s going to be like a wall. I would say that’s the image of what we’re kind of portraying and the message that we’re sending out.”
Twin Towers on the front line also gives the Mavs’ perimeter players a sense of confidence, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.
“When you’ve got AD and Gaff in the lineup to start (the game), those are two big shot-blockers in the paint and it’s going to make it tough for any opposing team to score,” guard Max Christie said. “It’s a confidence booster for sure.
“You can kind of press up on the ball a little bit more, especially in this day and age (when) a lot of these guys (have) iso-threes and step-back threes. And if they’re attacking the paint, you have confidence that AD, Gaff and Lively — when he comes back — are there to kind of clean it up for us.”
Gafford, meanwhile, expects blocked shots to become a constant for the Mavs with the addition of Davis, who unfortunately will miss Monday’s game against Sacramento with a left adductor strain. Gafford said: “We’ve got two captains out there facilitating the vocal part of it and making sure guys know where they need to be and just letting guys know that on the back end we’re both going to be protecting the house.”
Davis is just waiting for the day when the Mavs are completely healthy.
“I just know what we’re capable of when we’re locked in and doing what we’re supposed to do,” Davis said. “I just think defensively we’re going to be a problem, and offensively we’re going to continue to figure it out. I’m confident in our group and what we can do.”
Here are some other nuggets surrounding Monday’s game between the Mavs and Kings.
*Monday is the second game of a pre-All-Star game four-game home stand for the Mavs. The home stand started with Saturday’s 116-105 win over Houston. The Mavs will also host Golden State on Wednesday and Miami on Thursday before shutting down shop for the All-Star break.
*After Monday, the Kings will play a pair of games in New Orleans on Wednesday and Thursday. The Kings have lost four of their last six games and are trying to catch their breath after they surprisingly traded their franchise player — point guard De’Aaron Fox, who made last year’s All-Star game – to the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 3.
*On the injury front, the Mavs will be without Davis (left adductor strain), Lively (right ankle stress fracture), Dwight Powell (right hip strain) and Caleb Martin (right hip strain). Also, P. J. Washington (right ankle sprain), Max Christie (right shoulder strain) and Dante Exum (left Achilles tightness) are listed as questionable.
*Behind six blocks from Daniel Gafford and three each from Anthony Davis and P. J. Washington in Saturday’s victory over Houston, this was just the second
time in franchise history that the Mavs had three starters accumulate at least three blocks in the same game. The only other time was during a 101-100 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Feb. 1, 2000, when Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Bradley each blocked four shots and Cedric Ceballos had three blocks.
*DeMar DeRozan, the master of the mid-range jump shot, leads the Kings with 21.5 ppg and is shooting 48.5 percent from the field. Domantas Sabonis is averaging 20.5 ppg, 14.3 rpg and 6.2 apg. Sabonis leads the NBA in double-doubles with 46, and in rebounds. Also, newcomer Zach LaVine, who the Kings acquired in a trade with Chicago last week, is averaging 19 ppg. Malik Monk (18 ppg, 5.8 apg) and Keegan Murray (12.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg) have been productive for the Kings.
*The Mavs stepped things up considerably on the defensive side of the floor against Houston when they limited the Rockets to just 40 percent shooting from the field (40-of-100) and 28.6 percent shooting from behind the three-point line (8-of-28).
*Sacramento comes to Dallas after winning at home against New Orleans on Saturday, 123-118. In that game, Sabonis collected 27 points and 16 rebounds, LaVine contributed 22 points and five assists, and Murray added 19 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals. The Kings are in ninth place in the Western Conference standings – a game-and-a-half behind the eighth-place Mavs.
SACRAMENTO KINGS (26-26) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (28-25)
When: 7:30 p.m., Monday
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: WFAA-8, KFAA-29, MavsTV Stream
Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
X: @DwainPrice
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