The Mavericks were 1-1 this past week and now sit in 10th place in the West. They beat Brooklyn (119-111) at home on Friday before going to Utah and losing a heartbreaker to the Jazz (140-133). Cooper
Flagg led the team in scoring during these two games with 32 points per game. Daniel Gafford (ankle) returned to action, while Dereck Lively (foot/knee) was unfortunately ruled out for the season after it was announced he was undergoing foot surgery. Kyrie Irving (knee) remained out, and Anthony Davis (calf) and Brandon Williams (Achilles) missed Monday’s game.
Grade: B-
The Mavericks are still a very fun basketball team. They have been really good at generating points in the paint (65 per game this week) and have made it a point to be aggressive, taking 63 free throws in their last two games. The new starting lineup that features Cooper Flagg, Naji Marshall, and P.J. Washington allows the Mavericks to have three big, switchable wings that can guard multiple positions on defense and slash defenses on offense. Ryan Nembhard, although he did not play well against Brooklyn, continues to be the point guard the team needs to stay fluid on offense. His three games with 10-plus assists are as many as all other rookies have combined this season.
This was an A- or A week had Dallas not blown their lead against the Jazz. They played a great offensive game until 3:30 left in the fourth quarter, when they were up 124-116. Utah closed 13-5 in regulation and then outscored Dallas 11-4 in overtime to secure a Mavericks loss. The team clearly ran out of gas as the offense stalled and the defense was porous in the final eight-plus minutes. Still, they deserve a solid grade for playing nearly two full games of good basketball and not losing a step with guys in and out.
Straight A’s: Cooper Flagg
There is an inflexion point early on in every star’s career where the cool games they have cease to be exciting glimpses into the future and start to be what they are going forward. The game noticeably slows down for them, and they start getting to their spots consistently. Flagg has turned this corner undoubtedly. In the two games this week, he scored 64 points on a remarkable 23-of-43 shooting (53 percent!). He gets downhill at will; every time he puts the ball on the floor, it feels like the defense is at his mercy, regardless of the defender. He goes left a lot and utilizes his left hand in really creative ways for finishing. There was no better display of this than his clutch bucket against Utah that sent him to the line to tie the game:
He is toeing the line between pure brilliance and showing clear areas of improvement wonderfully. His bread-and-butter is inside 10 feet, where he is shooting almost 62 percent. Pure dominance getting to the basket has made him a lethal scorer, while the lack of a jump shot makes you daydream at the concept of what he could turn into. His strength at such a young age is remarkable, and his skill that allows him to navigate tight lanes is the stuff that veterans get praised for. The first 20-or-so games, he was passive and out of position and trying to get his feet wet. Now, Flagg is aggressive and assertive, and the sky is the limit for what he can become.
Currently Failing: The training staff
The incompetence of the previous training staff is well-documented. They nearly sent Dereck Lively out in a game with a stress fracture, and looked over one of the most injury-ravaged seasons in the NBA last year. There were some freak injuries, like Kyrie Irving’s ACL tear, but there were also a lot of chronic issues. Even after cleaning house in that department in May, Dallas has still missed a lot of time from key players this season. Maybe it is a player issue; the Mavericks notably built their team around guys with injury histories. It could be a reporting disconnect where the injuries listed are not indicative of how serious the issues are. But I have to think that if there was some higher level of competence from the medical staff, a P.J. Washington or Daniel Gafford ankle sprain, or a Brandon Williams Achilles issue would not be something that keeps these guys off the floor for as much as it has. Former Mavericks head trainer Casey Smith had all five starters on New York play 65-plus games at 35 minutes a night last season. Maybe Dallas is getting very unlucky, but given what has happened in the organization over the last two years, I am not ready to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Extra Credit: Naji Marshall
One of the key factors behind Dallas’ recent success has been the insertion of Naji Marshall into the starting lineup. He has started the last seven games, with Dallas going 5-2 in those contests. Marshall is one of my favorite players, and I have been all in on him since the Mavericks signed him last summer. In this stretch, he has scored nearly 16 points, dished out 3.1 assists, grabbed 3.9 rebounds, and stolen the ball more than once per game. This is all while shooting better than 64 percent from the field in over 32 minutes a night. His nickname “The Knife” is a tribute to the fact that he is a Swiss Army Knife of a player. That is, he does a little bit of everything on the floor. This has been on full display during Dallas’ recent run.
