The Dallas Mavericks are heading south of the border for an international showcase in Mexico City, where they’ll face a Detroit Pistons team that’s finding its rhythm early this season
After being one of
last season’s great success stories, the Pistons have gotten out of the starting blocks a little slow this season
Both teams enter this matchup with records hovering around .500 – Dallas at 2-3, Detroit at 3-2 – but they’re trending in different directions. While the Pistons are coming off a dominant 135-116 victory over Orlando and have won three of their last five, the Mavericks have been a bit Jekyll and Hyde, following up a 101-94 beat down against the Thunder with a narrow win against an injury-riddle Pacers team, that was nearly a loss had Aaron Nesmith hit his open three as time expired.
Dallas does have a two-game win streak in Mexico based on their wins in 2017 and 2019, so maybe the Mexico Boost can get Dallas back to .500.
Shut up, we’re a small ball team now
Yeah, yeah, Dallas started the season with dreams of running two-big lineups, forwards at every position, and stuffing every player shorter than 6’5” in a locker. Well, forget all that, we’re going back to small ball.
This season started with fans and general NBA observers wondering how in the world Dallas was going to get Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively, and Anthony Davis enough minutes on the floor.
A pre-season injury to Gafford simplified that issue, but then additional injuries to Lively and then Davis mean that the Mavs have gone from overloaded in the front court to potentially having to lean entirely on Dwight Powell and Moussa Cisse.
That said, Dwight “The Eternal Maverick” Powell was Dallas’ second-leading scorer against Indiana with 18, behind only Brandon Williams’ 20. If nothing else, the injuries give leeway to head coach Jason Kidd to devise some of the dumbest, nonsensical lineups you can imagine, and that no opposing team could have possibly planned for.
Welcome to the Brick Show
So far this season Dallas is managing just 107.8 PPG on 44.5% shooting. That’s good for second to last in the league in terms of offensive rating. Detroit hasn’t done much better, shooting an even worse 44.1% from the field. Still, they’ve managed to score in excess of 110 points in every game except for their 116-95 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
These are two teams that rank near the bottom of the league in nearly every offensive category. Though, even on the defensive side, things are murky. Detroit is holding opponents to 43.5% shooting from the floor — fifth best in the league. Dallas has the league’s eighth-best defensive rating, but their sixth-worst Net rating shows just how bad their offense has been at the same time.
Dallas may have found an offensive spark in Brandon Williams, who stands to receive an increase in playing time considering Dallas’ injuries. His impressive end to last season and team-leading 20 points indicate that he’s capable of being a regular contributor.
Neither team is clicking offensively, so it might come down to who manages to eke out the most possessions. And with how both of these teams have struggled with turnovers so far this year (both averaging nearly 17 a game) there will be ample opportunity for one team or the other to generate looks.
The end of October Klay
For his career, Klay Thompson has shot 41% from three. Peaking as high as 44% in the 2017-18 season. It’s notable, then, that with a 13-year sample size, Klay is shooting under 35% from three in the month of October across his whole career. It’s the only month where he’s consistently shot the three-ball below 40%. This year, that number is even worse, as he’s shooting just a shade under 26% from deep so far.
The good news is that this will be the final game Dallas plays in October. The better news is that Klay’s shot has always found its way back to him, as he’s shot 40+% in every non-October month in his career. The thought of a 40% three-point shooter would be a godsend for this team offensively, but Dallas would likely settle for even league average instead of de facto turnover when Klay gets his hands on the ball.
How to Watch
You can broadcast or stream the game on Peacock or Telemundo at 9:00 pm.
