Dallas Mavericks: 3-Point Defense A Concern Early On
You never want to be one of those guys who nitpicks every little thing so early in a season. Well, I’m about to be one of those guys because if not for shoddy 3-point defense, the Dallas Mavericks would be 2-0 right now.
Yes, two games into the NBA season is not a season-defining sample. But there are small things you look at after such a small sample size that make you scratch your head.
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For the Mavericks, it’s been this 3-point defense that’s been very suspect at the start of the year.
Here’s the thing with Dallas: If you’re playing the Mavericks for 48 minutes, you’re going to see the most zone you’ve ever seen in your life. It’s always been a staple for Rick Carlisle, and it’s now become Dallas’ calling card on defense.
Offensively, there’s nothing to be concerned about. Dallas’ offense looks damn near unguardable. It’ll be a top-5 offense at the end of the year. But Dallas has also given up over 100 points through two games, including Thursday’s home opener against the lowly Utah Jazz.
First, look at Tuesday’s season opener against the San Antonio Spurs. The Mavs had a 100-98 lead with a minute to go, then this happened.
That was the 14th 3-pointer San Antonio made on Tuesday night, which eventually turned out to be the game winner. Here’s two things you need to know about that.
1) That was Tony Parker‘s career-high fourth 3-pointer, and made all four attempts. If you’re letting Tony Parker beat you with a 3-point shot, then you have no chance to win any game ever.
2) The Spurs went 14-of-28 from behind the 3-point line. This was without Kawhi Leonard in the lineup. It was the usual suspects like Danny Green, Marco Belinelli and Manu Ginobili. You know San Antonio is going to shoot, but even when Dallas got a hand up in time, the Spurs couldn’t miss. That’s how good they are.
But what alarmed me more about Tuesday is Dirk Nowitzki is left all alone on an island when he comes to help double Boris Diaw in the post. It doesn’t help that Devin Harris (somehow) ended up taking Diaw in the paint by himself.
That’s the trouble the Mavs will run into with a zone, and the Spurs will continue to make Dallas pay once they get to full strength.
Dirk isn’t as quick as he used to be. If he’s the last resort to help contest a 3-pointer (as was evident of that Parker game winner and throughout the entire first round of the playoffs), then Dallas will find it difficult to be anywhere close to competitive defensively.
Then we go to Thursday. Dallas couldn’t have played any better than it did against the Jazz. The Mavs scored 36 points in the first quarter, and even built their lead to as big as 30 points in the first half. They were clicking, and even did well defensively.
When the third quarter rolled around, the Mavs (known for blowing leads) forgot to come out of the locker room. Utah went on a 3-point shooting tear, and before anyone could blink, the lead was down to 14. Fortunately for Dallas, it was reminded that they’re a much better team than the young Jazz and should win this game comfortably.
Dallas won by 18 points, but it should’ve been by a lot more.
I can understand letting the foot off the gas when you build a 30-point lead, but when it got down to 14, don’t act like you were smelling the roses with Jerry Jones. Utah took a massive 35 3-pointers on Thursday, which should be illegal, but Utah made nine of its 14 makes in the second half.
Dallas got the win, as it should, so it’s fine for now. But allowing 50 percent 3-point shooting to the Spurs (even though they could’ve shot it from the Alamo and still make it) and even 40 percent from the Jazz is slightly alarming. Good news, there’s still 80 games left to be played.
But the Mavs can’t keep playing complacent 3-point defense. It won’t matter how great their offense is.