Dallas Mavericks: Closing lineup offers a needed alternative

It has been a peculiar beginning to the 2020-21 season for the Dallas Mavericks, specifically at the offensive end. What was statistically the greatest offense of all time just last year fell to 15th heading into Wednesday’s nationally-televised contest against the Atlanta Hawks.

Dallas’ offensive output was what pushed it to an unexpected playoff appearance last season, dragging along a subpar defense while it lagged behind. Without the former, nothing was propping up the Mavericks, which explains a lot of their 11-14 record that put them on the outside of the postseason picture.

To eke out a one-point victory over the Hawks, Dallas first had to find a way to erase a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. They did so primarily with a lineup that differed significantly from what would be expected, and more important than a third straight victory might just be what that this new lineup can do to help salvage their season.

The lineup used to close out the Atlanta Hawks might be what the Dallas Mavericks need to get their offense back on track.

A starting unit of Luka Doncic, Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber and Kristaps Porzingis isn’t struggling to put up points. The go-to starting unit has an offensive rating of 119.1. For comparison, the Milwaukee Bucks lead the league in that category at 119.5. Nevertheless, it’s a unit with personnel-based weaknesses the opposition can take advantage of.

If Luka isn’t the one shooting or directly creating a shot for his teammates, none of the other four guys can consistently do so for themselves or others. That becomes a problem when defenses inevitably take the ball out of his hands near halfcourt, fully comfortable letting anyone else try to take them off the dribble or beat them beyond the arc.

A lineup that swapped Richardson for Jalen Brunson and Kleber for Tim Hardaway Jr. — with the more mobile DFS moving to the PF spot — offered an intriguing alternative for Rick Carlisle in an attempt to solve that issue.

Both Brunson and Hardaway can create off the dribble and are two of Dallas’ best long-range shooters, each converting above 39 percent of their respective triples. Those abilities sat in stark contrast to Richardson and Kleber, neither of whom are known to score off the bounce while the former has struggled mightily from downtown this season at 30.4 percent on over five attempts per game.

Dallas watched as Hardaway initiated that fourth-quarter comeback with10 points less than four minutes while Doncic got his customary rest to begin the final frame.

The Mavs’ offense has traditionally cratered without Luka, their offensive rating dropping 12 points in his absence. But with one of those nights from one of their most explosive scorers when he’s right, they found themselves down only four when their superstar guard returned.

“Well, something happened in I believe it was the fourth quarter,” Rick Carlisle said after the game. “Jenny Boucek, one of my coaches, came to me during the timeout and said hey, we gotta get Tim a shot. We just gotta get him going. And so we set up a play. We got him a shot and he banged in a three and that kind of got the team going… It got us going. It got the fans in the building going. It ignited our defense and a lot of good things happened after that.”

As predicted, Atlanta sought to get the ball out of Luka’s hands once he re-entered the game. Doncic happily played into the scheme by dishing out four of his 10 assists. Even better was the front-row seat he had to Brunson’s turn in the spotlight that helped bring home the victory.

Brunson’s 11 fourth-quarter points were second only to Hardaway’s 13. He drilled a catch-and-shoot triple off a Doncic feed as every other Maverick is programmed to do, but he also did as many of them can’t, doing most of the grunt work to put points on the board.

Three of his five field goals in the quarter followed that script. Doncic is forced to relinquish the ball, only to watch Brunson take his defender off multiple dribbles for a trio of buckets that can be seen in the reel below, all in less than two minutes of game time.

“We’re just trying to get this ball rolling,” Brunson said after the game in which he finished with 21 points, five assists and four rebounds off the bench. “And obviously that’s what’s happening right now.”

The closing lineup of Doncic, Brunson, Hardaway, Finney-Smith and Willie Cauley-Stein — a plus-19 overall in this game — has only appeared in three games for a total of 20 minutes. But an offensive rating of 132.6 is tantalizing enough to seek out more minutes regardless of how misleading tiny samples can be.

Carlisle was not shy in praising that unit, saying it “found a way to win the game.”

It doesn’t always have to be the go-to or closing lineup, but maybe this was the adjustment Dallas had to discover to break free from its underperformance and begin climbing up and establishing playoff positioning in the Western Conference.