Mavs more than hold their own against NBA’s best

With the regular season winding to a close on April 10, there’s one thing the Dallas Mavericks know they’ve done well this season.

They’ve held their own against the best teams in the NBA.

With 10 games remaining, the Mavs own a 15-12 record against the other 11 teams that would be in the playoffs if the postseason started today. That includes 2-0 records against the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, 3-1 against the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors, 2-1 against the Denver Nuggets, 1-1 against the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers, 1-2 against the Utah Jazz, 0-1 against the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers, and 0-3 against the Phoenix Suns.

And against the eight teams that would be in the play-in tournament if that started today, the Mavs have posted a 13-8 record: 2-0 against Toronto, 3-1 against New Orleans, 2-1 against Minnesota, 2-2 against the Los Angeles Clippers, and 1-1 against the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers.

In all against the aforementioned 19 teams, the Mavs have posted a 28-20 record for a .583 winning percentage.

By contrast, the Utah Jazz are 14-12 against the 11 playoff teams and 12-7 against the eight play-in teams for a combined winning percentage of 57.8 percent. The Denver Nuggets are just 9-19 against the 11 playoff teams and 13-6 against the eight play-in teams for a combined winning percentage of 46.8 percent.

And Minnesota is 15-15 against the 11 playoff teams and 8-11 against the eight play-in teams for a combined winning percentage of 46.9 percent.

Utah is currently fourth in the Western Conference, the Mavs are fifth, Denver is sixth and Minnesota is seventh.

So why are the Mavs so successful against the best teams the NBA has to offer?

“I think you don’t want to be embarrassed,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I think they’re always up for the challenge.

“Win or lose, it’s being able to see where you stand against the top teams.”

And so far, they Mavs have stood tall.

“We’ve played a lot of hot teams of late, so I just think we’re just in the moment,” Kidd said. “There’s nothing where we’re saying, ‘We need to win this game.’

“It’s just about executing the game plan and playing together.”

If nothing else, for the Mavs, holding their own against the top teams bodes well, particularly since those are the teams they’ll face in the playoffs.

“But I think it also just gives you confidence that you can compete at a high level against the good teams,” Kidd said. “There’s a lot of good things that we can take, and there’s still things that we can work on and get better at.”

DINWIDDIE FITTING RIGHT IN: Spencer Dinwiddie has fit in so well with the Mavs since coming over in a Feb. 10 trade with the Washington Wizards, it’s as if he’s been here all season long.

Not counting the first two games he played with the Mavs when he was still trying to get his sea legs under him, Dinwiddie is averaging 19.6 points and 4.3 assists in 12 games while shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from three-point land.

“What he’s done so far, his record speaks for it,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I think he’s given us another playmaker, another scorer – something that we needed.

“Sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is a perfect fit.”

Davis Bertans and Dinwiddie joined the Mavs in the trade that shipped Kristaps Porzingis and a protected 2022 second-round draft pick to the Wizards. Prior to playing for the Wizards, Dinwiddie played the previous five seasons for the Brooklyn Nets before his 2020-21 campaign ended prematurely after three games when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament on his right knee.

“When you look at the first 15 (games) in Washington, he was playing at a very high level,” Kidd said. “Again, at Brooklyn he played at a high level and for us he’s playing at a high level.

“We’re going to need that if we want any success going forward.”

Dinwiddie tallied 20 points in Monday’s 110-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He has six 20-plus games over the past 12 contests, including a 36-point outing during the 114-113 win over Sacramento on March 5.

In addition, in consecutive games last week, Dinwiddie buried the game-winning three-pointer that led the Mavs to a 95-92 triumph over the Boston Celtics. And he followed that up three days later with a buzzer-beating three-pointer that knocked out the Nets, 113-111.

KLEBER WORKING ON HIS SHOT: Coach Jason Kidd said Maxi Kleber is working to improve his shot, and that he doesn’t believe one of the team’s best defenders has lost confidence in his shooting stroke.

“I wouldn’t say he’s losing his confidence, because if you lose your confidence you’re not going to shoot them,” Kidd said. “I think he took nine shots last night (against the Timberwolves).

“When you lose your confidence is when you stop shooting the ball. You go through a stretch of the season where the shots just don’t fall, and that’s maybe where he’s at right now.”

Kleber was just 1-of-9 from the field against the Timberwolves — including 0-of-6 from three-point range – and finished the game with three points. In fact, in the 11 games since he was 7-of-10 from the field and scored a season-high 20 points during a 125-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Kleber is only 15-of-60 from the floor for 25 percent, and 6-of-38 from downtown for 15.8 percent while averaging 3.9 points.

“But the beauty of what Maxi does is he gives us spacing, he gives us a threat, and we all believe that he’s going to make the shot when he takes it,” Kidd said. “Not just as a coach, but as a teammate. They all believe that he’s going to make them.

“So that’s what’s really cool about this situation is that everyone’s talking about he might be in a slump. But guys still support him and guys really truly believe when he shoots it, it’s going in.”

LATE SHOT-CLOCK, NO PROBLEM: The Mavs don’t have any qualms working the 24-second shot clock all the way down before hoisting up a shot. That strategy, they say, is part of their game plan.

“We’re not a quick-shooting team,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ll use the whole (24-second shot) clock if we have to. It’s working to get the shot that you want.”

In Monday’s win over the Timberwolves, the Mavs worked the shot-clock down to the very last second during crunch time and wound up with critical driving layups from Dorian Finney-Smith and Luka Doncic.

“I think that just shows the mentality of not panicking (and) trusting your skill set,” Kidd said. “We got two layups out of those late shots with the clock running down.

“It doesn’t matter when you score on the clock as long as you score and get a good look, and that’s what we got. We’re not afraid to play deep into the clock.”

BRIEFLY: Coach Jason Kidd said guard Tim Hardaway Jr. probably won’t play again until next season. “He’s a ways away,” Kidd said. “There’s no timetable in a sense that saying he’s going to play in the playoffs, I don’t think he is. As of right now, no.” Hardaway underwent surgery on Feb. 1 to address a fracture to the fifth metatarsal in his left foot. The injury occurred on Jan. 25 at Golden State . . .With so many teams jammed together in the Western Conference playoff picture, Kidd said it makes no sense for his staff to try and start honing in on one or two potential playoff matchups. “We haven’t even started the preparations for the playoffs yet,” Kidd said. “I think there’s 10 games left. We’re a little ways way from preparing for the playoffs — with everything being bunched up. We just focused on ourselves and then the opponent that we’re playing that day. So my staff, we’re a couple games away from starting to work on playoffs. I don’t want my staff to work on things that don’t make sense.” Golden State (47-27) is currently seeded third in the West, followed by Utah (45-27), the Mavs (44-28), Denver (43-30) and Minnesota (42-31). The Mavs theoretically could wind up playing any one of those teams in the opening round of the playoffs.

Twitter: @DwainPrice