The cruel reality facing the Dallas Mavericks early in the season
DALLAS – Reality is cruel. And through the first three games of the season, the Dallas Mavericks have received a healthy dose of it. The team’s record sits at 1-2. Both losses came in very winnable games, the first where Dallas blew a 20-point lead against Phoenix, and the latest came against the New Orleans […]
DALLAS – Reality is cruel.
And through the first three games of the season, the Dallas Mavericks have received a healthy dose of it.
The team’s record sits at 1-2. Both losses came in very winnable games, the first where Dallas blew a 20-point lead against Phoenix, and the latest came against the New Orleans Pelicans when they didn’t play Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Sandwiched in between was a blowout victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, who played on the second night of a back-to-back.
Like many teams three games into an 82-game season, making sense of the hodge-podge of basketball we’ve seen to this point is nearly impossible. But what stands out in each loss is the iffy-at-best fourth-quarter rotation and a lack of effort defensively for long stretches, sometimes halves, at a time.
“We gave up a 40-point quarter,” head coach Jason Kidd said after the 113-111 loss to New Orleans. “You got to show up. You got to take the win. No one is going to give you anything in this league. We didn’t play well down the stretch. Again, we had an opportunity, just like in Phoenix, down the stretch, but we came up short.”
Against New Orleans, Kidd opted to send Christian Wood to the bench with roughly three minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. Dorian Finney-Smith replaced Wood, and Kidd chose to leave Maxi Kleber on the floor for what appeared to be a defensive lineup.
It didn’t work.
“The defense in general just wasn’t there,” Wood said. “We will build off this and come back stronger next game.”
Dallas pulled within two points, but by the time Kidd subbed Wood back into the game with a one-minute left to play, New Orleans’ lead had grown to five.
The defense he hoped that group would play didn’t exactly materialize. And what was apparent after Kidd’s attempt to forgo offensive firepower for defensive decision-making was the head-scratching reality about Dallas’ current rotation.
Wood is clearly Dallas’ second-best offensive player. He’s averaging 24.3 points per game thus far. He scored 23 points on 8-for-10 field goal shooting against New Orleans. Yet, he’s playing under 27 minutes a night. That doesn’t make sense.
“They told me I am the sixth man, but in terms of how many minutes I play, I really don’t know,” Wood said. “That’s between the coaches. I can only control what I can control. I’ll just leave that to them.”
There is some merit to the defensive argument, but Wood has shown a willingness to learn on that end of the floor. He’s in a winning situation for the first time in his career and has said himself that he wants to be better on the less glamorous side of the floor.
Regardless, with a Dallas roster that lacks genuine shot creators, Wood’s defense shouldn’t matter. If Dallas wants to win more, he needs to play.
And on Tuesday night, that was more apparent than at any other point in the short NBA season. Off the bench, Wood was a plus-eight in box-score plus-minus. He was one of three Mavericks players who possessed a positive plus-minus. The other two were Luka Doncic, who scored 37 points, and surprisingly Josh Green.
Somehow, Wood has remained in positive spirits, despite the inconsistency in his rotational minutes.
“I take it game-by-game,” Wood said. “I’ll take it slow and try to approach every game with the same mindset.”
But good teams don’t drop games to beatable opponents. More so, they don’t drop games to beatable opponents when a shift in the rotation could arguably produce a better outcome.
Through the first three games, cruel reality hit Dallas.
Now, it’s time to see if Kidd does the right thing by putting his best players on the floor when it matters the most. And doing so starts by playing Wood for more than 20-some minutes a night.
“I am still trying to figure it out,” Wood said. “I believe that I am a starting caliber player. And I am trying to do everything right, and just do what I am told. Whether that is playing 12 minutes or 20 minutes, I am trying to do my job.”
Related Dallas Mavericks reading
"How Christian Wood's debut played out like a Hollywood script."
"Mavericks: Luka Doncic explains how the Mavericks take a step forward this season."
Feature image via Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports.
