The Mavericks were 1-3 this past week and sit at 14th place in the West. They got beat by San Antonio (125-92) in the home opener and followed that up with a loss to Washington (117-107). They got on the board with a win against Toronto (139-129), but a late comeback fell short, and they lost a dog fight to Oklahoma City (101-94). Anthony Davis led the team in scoring over this stretch with 25 points per game. Daniel Gafford (ankle), Dante Exum (knee), and Kyrie Irving (knee) have yet to make their
season debuts. Dereck Lively played three games before injuring his knee and missed Monday’s game against the Thunder. Brandon Williams missed two games due to personal reasons.
Grade: D
The Mavericks have had an interesting start to the season, to say the least. The first two contests were baffling, both in how porous the defense looked and how much Jason Kidd bought into the idea of a guardless lineup. Getting pounded by the Spurs looks a lot less egregious in hindsight, given how dominant they look with Victor Wembanyama. But losing to a young, weird Wizards team with little to no fight until the fourth quarter was incredibly disheartening.
One not-so-small reason the Mavericks turned things around in some way was Anthony Davis’ shot-making. In the first two games, Davis was just 16-of-41 from the floor. If you break it down, he shot 2-of-8 from three, 14-of-33 from two, and just 11-of-25 in the paint. When your starting big man is shooting 44 percent in the paint, you cannot win games. To his credit, he cleaned it up and posted two excellent shooting performances (11-of-14 and 10-of-16) after two stinkers.
The vision of what this team can be was present against the Thunder. That was the type of rock fight that we expected going into the season. The first three games were defensive atrocities, but it looked a lot more cohesive against Oklahoma City. They held the Thunder to just two points over a seven-and-a-half-minute stretch, fueling a comeback that gave Dallas a shot at the tie with 34 seconds left.
The shot-making is what it is. It is going to be as volatile as can be until they figure out the lead guard role. But there are building blocks in place for the success of this team. They have to play consistent defense. They have to make their inside shots. They have to utilize the offense to create open looks, or scoring will come at a premium. There have been flashes, but they have yet to put together a full game of the basketball they want to play.
Straight A’s: Cooper Flagg
One thing that stood out in the team’s first four games is that Cooper Flagg is far and away the team’s best offensive engine. He is poised under pressure (for the most part), his jump shot looks fluid, and he has flashed some playmaking that displays his progress as a ball-handler. At some point this season, they are going to have to hand him the keys to the offense. Sure, he is only 18 years old. But when guys have it, it is obvious. And Cooper Flagg has it. Plus, we need more highlights like this:
Currently Failing: The opening unit
Jason Kidd has to switch up the starting lineup. The lack of a point guard kills the ability to get off to a hot start. On Monday night, they went down 11-2 before D’Angelo Russell was subbed in and the Mavericks scored 10 of the next 15 points. That is a nine-point deficit they surrendered because Kidd is stubborn in a seven-point loss. The team needs a steady ball-handler to be successful. Kidd even said this after their loss to Washington. Given that he likes to experiment for the first month or so, the “Flagg at point guard” test will likely continue for some time. But the Mavericks’ best lineups will continue to be the ones where an actual point guard is initiating the offense.
Extra Credit: A new tradition
If you have ever been to a Dallas Stars game, you’ll know that the National Anthem before the game sounds a bit different. That’s because whenever the song mentions the word “star”, a loud “Stars!” yell can be heard from every fan in attendance, as a tribute to the hometown team. Mavericks fans have picked up on this, and as a clever counter, have started to yell “Flagg!” when the word “flag” is sung in the anthem. It is a cool tradition to help embrace the Mavericks’ next young star:
