2-4.
That’s the Mavericks’ record after the latest game, a 110-122 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Mexico City. Now that the “Homestand” is done, Dallas sits comfortably close to the bottom of the Western
Conference (Thanks New Orleans!) and looks destined to be a lottery-bound team once again.
The Mavericks were without most of their Center rotation for this game (Shocking!), and it showed as the Pistons bullied their way to a 72-26 advantage in the paint. Daniel Gafford’s return to the lineup wasn’t a placebo for the Mavericks’ defensive issues, as the big man was on a minutes restriction and looked like someone who hadn’t had a full training camp to acclimate to game speed.
Jalen Duren & Cade Cunningham imposed their will on the Dallas defense, with Duren scoring a career-high 33 points and Cunningham dishing out 18(!) assists with only one turnover – most of them lobs to Duren in the pick & roll. It seemed like a very familiar sight for Mavericks fans to see someone tear the defense apart at will – we’re probably still adjusting to the fact that we’re now on the receiving end of these.
D’Angelo Russell did his level best to keep this game from turning into a laugher with some wild shot-making in the second and third quarters, but ran out of steam in the fourth when the Pistons dialled in defensively and ran away with the game.
Let’s look at how Dallas graded out in their latest loss against the Detroit Pistons:
Klay Thompson: C-
11 Pts/3 Reb/1 Ast/1 Stl/0 Blk/0 TOs in 20mins
Klay got it going early and kept the Mavericks connected to start the game, but was ultimately played off the floor by the Pistons’ younger, more athletic wings. At this point in his career, Klay should be coming off the bench as a sparkplug to take advantage of the opponents’ second units, not as the starting guard for this team. His shot-making might ultimately return, but his defense has tailed off dramatically as he’s aged, and the Mavericks can’t afford that to start every game.
P.J. Washington: C-
6 Pts/5 Reb/5 Ast/0 Stl/3 Blk/2 TOs in 36mins
It seems like when PJ has an off night, it’s awful. This was certainly the case in Mexico City, where Washington looked like he couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn. He was 3/13 from the floor and 0/6 from the 3-point line. With him rounding into his “Prime”, the one thing that he needs to focus on is adding consistency to his game. The Mavericks can’t afford to have these wild swings in his production. Not with how thin this roster is from a scoring standpoint with Kyrie out.
Daniel Gafford: C
7 Pts/4 Reb/3 Ast/0 Stl/0 Blk/0 TOs in 18mins
Gafford’s return seemed like a godsend with the news that Anthony Davis would miss the next few games with a Calf Strain, but the Landlord has been out since the first practice of Training Camp, and it showed. The coaching staff played him in three-minute spurts and kept him on a tight minutes restriction, but Gafford looked sluggish and outmatched against the younger Duren.
Cooper Flagg: C
16 Pts/8 Reb/4 Ast/1 Stl/0 Blk/1 TOs in 34mins
Most casual fans watching this game would be alarmed at Cooper Flaggs’ performance against Detroit – He was 3/14 from the floor and missed badly on a couple of drives, but for an 18-year-old rookie, the process was good. With DLo assuming the point guard role for most of the game, Flagg could move to his more natural off-ball role with a lot of screens and cuts being designed to get him the ball on the move. The finishing will come in time as he acclimates to NBA-level physicality and pace, but for the time being, we will have to be content with these small steps, particularly with the state of the roster being what it is.
Cormac Christie: B-
13 Pts/6 Reb/5 Ast/0 Stl/0 Blk/1 TOs in 33mins
With Davis out, Cormac got the start and made a case that he needs to take Klay’s role in the starting lineup. Christie was confident with the ball in his hands and showed off some playmaking nous, finishing the game with a team-high 5 assists (Tied with PJ). As the Mavericks’ most consistent three-point shooter, the coaching staff has to scheme some more looks for Cormac, particularly from the corners where he’s among the league leaders in the 3pt FG%.
Dwight Powell: C
5 Pts/6 Reb/1 Ast/0 Stl/0 Blk/2 TOs in 19mins
Powell couldn’t replicate his heroics from the other night against the Hospital Pacers as he found himself outmuscled and was bullied by the more athletic and physical Jalen Duren & Isaiah Stewart. He was still serviceable for a fourth option Center, though, finishing the game with a team-high plus-minus of 2.
D’Angelo Russell: A-
31 Pts/7 Reb/3 Ast/0 Stl/0 Blk/4 TOs in 30mins
The only reason that this game wasn’t a 20–30-point blowout was D’Angelo Russell. Yes, he had some boneheaded turnovers in the fourth quarter that effectively iced the game for the Pistons, but DLo was the Mavericks’ offense. Takeaway his 7/13 from beyond the arc, and all the other Mavericks combined shot 9/32, which amounts to 28%. Yuck.
Naji Marshall: D
7 Pts/2 Reb/0 Ast/1 Stl/0 Blk/2 TOs in 23mins
Naji has to be better. It’s as simple as that. The Knife was dreadful in this game, finding himself consistently out of position on the defensive end and looked unable to handle Detroit’s physicality on the offensive end. While he opened his three-point account for the season in this game, he was also badly off on his other two attempts, even airballing one of them. He finished the game with a team-low plus-minus of -21.
Brandon Williams: B-
12 Pts/0 Reb/0 Ast/1 Stl/0 Blk/3 TOs in 17mins
Williams gets buckets. That’s it. He’s not the player who’s going to run the offense and get others going. He’s someone who’s going to torch opponents’ bench units and look for his own shot. The past two games have illustrated that fact quite well, and Williams has shown that he needs to be running the second unit with DLo starting as the main PG until Kyrie returns.
Caleb Martin: D
2 Pts/2 Reb/1 Ast/0 Stl/0 Blk/0 TOs in 12mins
LOL. That’s probably the only reaction to Caleb Martin’s game right now. How he got 12 minutes of playing time is a mystery to most, but Martin looked every bit of an end-of-bench rotation player while he was on the court against Detroit, proving forever more that Nico Harrison is the dumbest GM in the league right now.
