Dallas Mavericks are a different team under head coach Jason Kidd this season. After being one of the best offensive teams in the last two seasons, the Mavs have built a defensive juggernaut this year.
In Sunday’s 107-101 win over the Golden State Warriors, Dallas rallied past their opponents, returning from a 21-point third-quarter deficit. The Mavericks kept Steph Curry and co. to 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Dallas has changed their strategy this season, hoping to make it past the second round of the postseason. The Mavs are the fifth-best defense in the league and the second best team in opponents points per game (103.4).
Dallas is allowing opponents to score 107.3 points per 100 possessions, while scoring almost 111 points per 100 possessions, for a net rating of a plus-3.5. The Mavericks were 20th in defensive rating last season, while they were 11th in pace.
After changing up their front office and the coaching staff during the 2021 offseason, the Mavs created a core willing to play defense, and they slowed down their offense. Dallas is dead-last in pace with 95.5 possessions per contest.
That helped Luka Doncic exercise his patient on creating better shots. Last night, the Slovenian superstar finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. However, he had nine turnovers to go with 11-of-20 shooting and 11 made free throws.
Luka in his office. 23-1 Dallas run for the lead 🤯 2 minutes left on ESPN pic.twitter.com/dHNRoiE3tr — NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2022
Doncic was laser focused on the fourth quarter, where he scored nine points and committed zero turnovers. During the win against Golden State, Spencer Dinwiddle was an important factor, especially in the Mavs’ 33-13 run in the fourth period.
The veteran guard, who joined Mavericks from the Wizards in the trade deadline, had 10 points during that stint, including a huge three-point play that put up the visitors up six (100-94) with 1:43 remaining.
Dinwiddie scored five straight points midway through the fourth that got Dallas to 93-90, including another big three. The former Wizards’ guard finished with 24 points on 10-14 shooting coming off the bench.
Spencer Dinwiddie for 3… 16-0 @dallasmavs run cuts it to 3 on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/jGfwHHXP6y — NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2022
Dallas has improved to 36-25, which ranks them fifth in the West alongside the Denver Nuggets, who added to their winning tally on Sunday.
Photo: AP
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