SAN ANTONIO – In golf, they call it grinding around the course – finding a way to score well when the ball won’t go where you want it to go.
In baseball, it’s a pitcher getting out batters without his best stuff or when his fastball won’t go as fast as normal.
For the Mavericks, winning ugly on Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs meant winning when Luka Dončić had the rarest of rare off nights and they made just 10 three-point shots.
By the way, that’s one more than they made Sunday in the scintillating buzzer-beating win over Denver.
Is this the Mavericks’ new, primed-for-the-playoffs look? Lower scores, more points in the paint, fewer long balls and, most importantly, better defense? Like in their 113-107 win over the Spurs?
“If we’re going to expend that much energy on defense, yeah, I think that’s going to be our new norm,” coach Jason Kidd said. “But at some point, the offense will match the defense. And vice-versa.
“The defense – on our poor shooting nights in the past, we would have definitely lost this game. But we’re relying on our defense, we’re getting stops. You’re not always going to play perfect, but we still found a way to win tonight.”
Dante Exum, who is rounding into form and had a big hand Tuesday’s triumph over the Spurs, called it winning “the easier way.”
You don’t always have to knock down 15 three-pointers to win.
The old Mavericks did. But not now. With a relatively healthy roster (Josh Green aside), they are finding better rhythm and better chemistry.
It starts with some consistency in the starting lineup and playing rotation.
“We made adjustments to our lineup, and since then, the numbers have spoken for themselves,” Kyrie Irving said. “We have a new starting five where we’re defensive minded first with guys that get us extra possessions. It’s no knock on the starting lineup we had. But guys are settling into their roles.”
The two newcomers acquired at the trade deadline (P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford) fit in nicely and give the Mavericks a defensive tilt along with Derrick Jones Jr. alongside the obvious offensive talent of Irving and Dončić.
That leaves Exum, Maxi Kleber, Dereck Lively II and Tim Hardaway Jr. as the core players off the bench. And Green, when he returns from his sprained ankle.
And here’s our other takeaways from the win at San Antonio that lifted the Mavericks to 40-29 on the season and keep pace with Sacramento and Phoenix in the race for the sixth playoff spot in the Western Conference:
Productive even on a bad night: When he arrived at his postgame chat with reporters, Dončić said he didn’t know why anybody wanted to talk to him after shooting 6-of-27. He apparently doesn’t appreciate a triple-double as much as media members. And, as Exum said: “No matter how Luka’s playing – if he’s playing amazing, he’s going to get doubled. If he’s playing bad, he’s going to get doubled. So he’s always going to create opportunities for everyone.” Same with the media. No matter how he shoots the ball, Luka always is part of the story. And his teammates did a bang-up job of handling the heavy lifting while Luka struggled. “It’s a collective responsibility,” Irving said. “We expect a lot out of Luka He expects a lot out of himself. The guy is hungry to be perfect every single night. I admire that about him. But he’s human, just like the rest of us. When he’s not able to hit shots that he normally makes, we got to pick him up.” As Luka said: “We got the win. That’s all that matters.”
Ex-cellent: Exum had a terrific night with 16 points that included hitting all four of his three-pointers (the rest of the Mavericks were 6-of-25). And the Mavericks were plus-16 when the 6-5 Exum was on the floor. “He’s a pressure reliever,” Irving said. “He’s like one of those Swiss army knives you can throw in there. He takes a ton of weight off our shoulders.” Exum does that by being a third ballhandler who can get the ball up the floor and run the offense, giving Irving and Dončić precious possessions where they aren’t exposed to constant wear and tear.
Looking ahead: The Mavericks have Utah at American Airlines Center on Thursday, then prepare for an ultra-important trip that will feature two games at Sacramento, which could go a long way toward deciding who gets the No. 6 seed in the West and avoids the play-in tournament among teams finishing seventh through 10th.
X: @ESefko
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