Dallas Mavericks: This Offense Can’t Be Stopped
I made the joke earlier in the year that the Dallas Mavericks’ offense could cure world hunger. I stand by that. Sort of.
While it may not provide food to countries that desperately need it, it can make people smile. It can bring laughter to the world, but it can also make opposing teams cry.
Just ask the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
The Mavericks totaled 140 points … yes, one-hundred and forty points … on the Lakers Friday as Dallas won its sixth straight game with a 140-106 win over the now 3-10 Lakers. Dallas is 10-3 with a big-time matchup on Saturday against the Houston Rockets in the Chandler Parsons Revenge Game.
But let’s talk more about this offense that can stop Ebola.
No words can describe what’s happening. This Dallas offense is currently on pace to be the greatest offense to ever play an NBA season in history. The Mavericks average 108.9 points per game, which is far and away the best in the league.
That pales in comparison to what Dallas has done during this current six-game winning streak its on.
The last time the Mavericks lost was on Nov. 9 at home to the new-look Miami Heat. Dallas scored 96 points, and two games before that scored only 87 points in Portland.
In the last six games, Dallas has done the following:
- 106 points vs. Sacramento
- 123 points vs. Philadelphia
- 131 points vs. Minnesota
- 107 points vs. Charlotte
- 105 points vs. Washington
- 140 points vs. the Lakers
That’s absurd. That is just unworldly. This is also an insane average.
Since the loss to Miami, Dallas has averaged ... wait for it... 118.6 points per game.
— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) November 22, 2014
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But never mind the fact that Dallas has only played two playoff teams from a year ago on that list. No matter who you’re playing, if a team can score that many points at an absurd level like the Mavericks are doing right now, that’s impressive.
It feels like, as of this moment, this Dallas team cannot be stopped. The Mavericks aren’t going to keep this level of productivity up the entire year. That would mean they would win about 75 games, and that will definitely not happen. Dallas is in a unique situation. The Mavs aren’t that great of a defensive team.
They have athletes that could play great defense when needed, but it’s not a consistent effort.
If you can score 140 points, you don’t need to worry about playing good defense.
Only two of those games has Dallas needed its starters to play crunch-time minutes; those being Sacramento and Washington. Those other four have games have resulted in the Mavericks sitting their starters for the entire fourth quarter.
That’s one of the ways to win, and win a lot, in the NBA. If a team’s starters can play less than 30 minutes on some nights, they’ll be available when the big games come up on the schedule.
That will especially ring true for someone like Dirk Nowitzki, who could use as much rest as humanly possible. He played 34 minutes in the 24-point comeback against the Kings at the start of this winning streak. Since then, in the last five games, Dirk has played less than 30 minutes.
He probably would’ve played 30 minutes against the Wizards had he not rolled his left ankle and left at the eight-minute mark in the fourth quarter.
But when the Mavericks needed him to come up with the big play, as he’s always done, Dirk hit the dagger 3-pointer to give the Mavs one of their more impressive victories on this young season.
Even Monta Ellis has seen a lot of rest at stints. He’s played over 30 minutes three times, but that led to 30 points against Minnesota, 18 points against Charlotte and 34 points against the Wizards on Wednesday.
When it comes to the Mavericks, if they’re healthy, they’re going to be good. One surefire way to remain healthy is keeping your starters healthy. And even when Dallas is giving its stars some rest, the bench has been nothing short of spectacular.
Brandan Wright still leads the NBA in field goal percentage. He’s shooting 76 percent from the floor, but during this win streak, he’s shooting 80.6 percent and has two games of shooting 100 percent from the floor.
J.J. Barea has shown flashes of his 2011 form, especially in the last two games, most notably against the Wizards with his 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Al-Farouq Aminu is looking like the biggest bargain during the free agency period. He’s been able to score when he can, and has done a little bit of everything you want on a stat sheet.
Remember when no one wanted him because of his lack of basketball ability?
And even in garbage time, you have Charlie Villanueva smashing your hopes and dreams.
Dallas isn’t going to keep this offense going for the entire year, otherwise we would label the Mavs as champions right now. But they are, as of this moment, the most dangerous basketball team in the league. And until any team can stop them on a consistent basis, that’s the way it will be right now.
The next step is going to Houston and letting Chandler Parsons go off for 40 points. If that happens, just pack the bags and go home.