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5 Reasons The Dallas Mavericks Are The West’s Weak Link

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 22, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; (From left) Dallas Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons , guard Rajon Rondo , forward Dirk Nowitzki and center Tyson Chandler against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Mavericks 98-92. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; (From left) Dallas Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons , guard Rajon Rondo , forward Dirk Nowitzki and center Tyson Chandler against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Mavericks 98-92. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dallas Mavericks
Mar 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) guard Monta Ellis (11) and forward Chandler Parsons (25) sits on the bench in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at American Airlines Center. The Cavs beat the Mavs 127-94. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Shooting Slumps

One of the biggest reasons to wonder about the Mavericks’ potency come playoff time is that their two best players haven’t looked like their two best players lately. At age 36, it’s impressive that Dirk Nowitzki is still as effective as he is. But he’s no longer “the guy” that was singlehandedly capable of winning a playoff series and putting the team on his back.

That’s not the end of the world. Dirk can still knock down clutch shots, after all. But last night was just the third time Nowitzki’s reached the 20-point plateau since the end of February, and in that time, he’s shooting just 43.3 percent from the field and scoring a meager 15.4 points per game. Nowitzki’s scoring by the month has tapered off as well, resulting in a season-low 14.8 points per game in March.

It’s not just Nowitzki that’s the problem, however. Monta Ellis has been even worse:

Dallas Mavericks
Monta Ellis’ 2014-15 shot chart for the month of March, per NBA.com. /

Chandler Parsons is shooting the lights out right now, but the Mavs aren’t going to threaten anybody if Ellis can’t permanently bust out of his shooting slump over the last month. Even with a 31-point outing and a 38-point detonation in March, Ellis still shot 41.4 percent from the floor and an abysmal 22.0 percent from three-point range for the month.

Last year, Dallas was so dangerous because Monta decided to have it all. At the start of the season, it looked like it’d be that way again. But since the arrival of Rondo, Ellis’ numbers have been trending downhill and Dallas’ ironman has had to play banged up. Will the Mavericks’ best two players be able to revert to proper form, which their team needs in order to pull off any kind of upset? It’s looking iffy at this point.

Next: No. 1

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