The Dallas Mavericks’ season hinges on the performance on point guard Deron Williams, as he quietly became the focal point of the team in crunch time last season.
The clock is ticking for Deron Williams to play himself into game shape before the Dallas Mavericks begin the 2016-17 season.
The 32-year-old point guard has just 12 days until traveling to Indiana to take on the Pacers to start his 12th season in the NBA.
The three-time All-Star submitted a solid debut season with the Mavericks a year ago, as he averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game and provided production out of the point guard position the franchise hadn’t seen in years.
Williams became the first Dallas player since Jason Kidd in 1996 to post a 30-point, 15-assist outing, as he totaled 31 points and 16 assists in a victory over Portland.
His impact on the Mavericks stretches much further than his raw numbers indicate.
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Williams was actually the top offensive option for Dallas in crunch time, scoring a team-high 132 points, according to NBA Miner.
Crunch time comes during the fourth quarter or overtime, with less than five minutes remaining, and neither team ahead by more than five points.
Dallas provided plenty of crunch time opportunities, as the team played a league-high 12 overtime contests.
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The 132 crunch time points matched Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook for the 12th most in the NBA last season, and Williams appeared in 15 fewer games.
Dirk Nowitzki ranked 16th in crunch time points, as he totaled 122 points, one more than LeBron James.
Unlike the rest of the leaders in crunch time scoring, Williams became even more efficient with the game on the line, shooting 9.2 percent higher than his regular season average.
Williams converted 50.6 percent of his crunch time field goal attempts, the only player in the league to shoot above 50 percent while scoring at least 100 points in crunch time.
His potency from beyond the arc was also unmatched.
The 17 crunch time three-pointers from Williams were the most in the NBA last year and his conversion rate of 51.5 percent was the second highest in the league of anyone to convert 10 or more crunch time three-pointers.
The increase in effectiveness wasn’t just limited to his scoring in crunch time. Williams became a better facilitator with the game on the line, dishing out 28 assists, tying him with Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday, while committing just six turnovers.
The assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.7 in crunch time was easily the best crunch time figure in the NBA last season and well above his regular season average of 2.52, the 19th best in the league.
Once again, injuries derailed a promising season from Williams, as he was limited to just 65 appearances.
Over the past six years, Williams has appeared in more than 70 regular season games just once, but began his career with three consecutive seasons with 80 or more games played.
The entire Dallas roster struggled to stay healthy last season, leading to coach Rick Carlisle to dub the team as the Masking Tape Mavs.
An abdominal injury sidelined Williams for eight consecutive games late in the regular season and lingered once the postseason started.
During the final three contests in the opening round of the 2016 Western Conference playoffs, Williams was limited to just 89 seconds of playing time after aggravating an abdominal strain, resulting in a sports hernia.
Doctors recommended a month of rest before undergoing a surgical procedure to correct the issue.
Prior to the surgery, Williams declined his $5.6 million player option and agreed to a one-year, $11 million deal with the Mavericks after the team initially pursued Mike Conley in free agency.
The surgery was expected to keep Williams sidelined 6-8 weeks, putting him on track to resume basketball activities in mid-August.
Williams was cleared to participate in training camp with the Mavericks, but sat out the first two preseason contests.
The 6-foot-3 point guard made his preseason debut against Milwaukee, totaling three points, two assists, one rebound and five turnovers in 17 minutes of play.
Three nights later against Oklahoma City, Williams was much more effective, posting 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and committing two turnovers during a 21-minute stint of action.
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Williams unexpectedly emerged as the most viable crunch time performer in the NBA last season and the Mavericks are hoping to take advantage of his late game heroics throughout the year.