Don’t look now, but the team that was self-described as playing “hot potato” with the basketball late last season in clutch games now has a spotless 5-0 record in such situations.
It’s not a large sample size six games into the 2023-24 season, but it still is a nice trend that seems to indicate that the offseason attention to end-of-game situations has had its desired impact. The latest of those was Sunday in the 124-118 victory over Charlotte at American Airlines Center, which was a one-point game with under four minutes to go.
Clutch games are defined as those in which the score is five points or closer at some point in the final five minutes.
There are two reasons why the Mavericks have been good at those moments so far, coach Jason Kidd said.
“When you have 77 and 11, it’s an easy thing,” he said, referring to Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving’s numbers. “But the other side of that, we spent a lot of time on end-of-game situations. And everybody’s very comfortable.”
It’s a massive improvement from the embryonic stages of the Luka-Kyrie pairing last spring after the February trade. The two spent most of their time trying not to step on each other’s toes.
Now, it may not yet be a well-oiled machine. But it’s a whole lot better.
Here’s what else we took away from the Mavericks’ bounce back win over the Hornets after their first loss of the season in Denver:
Luka still the man: OK, his numbers were great again, although scoring was down a bit. But when Dončić comes up with 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, it’s a monster game, even if he did shoot 1-of-9 from three-point range. “It was Luka,” said Hornets’ coach Steve Clifford. “The whole second half we changed rages. We probably tried four or five different things. And he just destroyed us. They had him for nine assists, but he created almost their entire offense and we couldn’t figure out a way to stop him.” Luka was able to set up teammates like Jaden Hardy, Dereck Lively II, Dwight Powell and Josh Green for big contributions in the second-half comeback.
A bit of history: The Mavericks have scored at least 110 points in each of the first six games this season. That’s the first time in franchise history they’ve pulled that off. They are 5-1 and last season they were 31-15 when they scored 110, so it would suggest their defense is a bit saltier, too. In addition, after trailing by 12 at halftime, they came back to win. Last season, they were 0-15 when trailing by a dozen or more at the break.
Ball bearings: LaMelo Ball made just 1-of-6 shots in the first half and had only two points, although he did dish out 11 assists in the first 24 minutes. But he was a scoring machine in the fourth quarter with 23 points and ended up with a triple-double (30 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds). “Ball had been struggling shooting the ball. For three quarters, he was kind of quiet,” said Kidd. “But you give someone with that type of talent that many looks, at some point, he’s gonna connect. He did a great job. He puts a lot of pressure on your defense, not with just the threes, but his passing ability. He had a triple double. That’s what he does. He controls the game by finding his teammates or being able to score.” Said Grant Williams: “He’s a special player. He puts a lot of pressure on you not only with his ability to create for others, but he gets hot and is able to knock down some tough shots.”
Final thought: It comes from Kidd, who was describing the Mavericks scoring 74 second-half points. “Being able to rebound and get out and run in that second half (was key). Pace, getting stops and we had some opportunities we normally (capitalize on). I thought the guys got a little frustrated, but I think learning from that Denver game, they stayed the course and found a way to win.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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