How the Mavs Defense Locked Down Jayson Tatum in 95-92 Win
Dallas, TX – The Dallas Mavericks have seemed to put their 30-point blowout loss to the Knicks behind them as they are on a two-game road win streak. After their 95-92 win over the Boston Celtics, it is now time for the national media to give the Mavs the respect they deserve. Firstly, their defense […]
Dallas, TX – The Dallas Mavericks have seemed to put their 30-point blowout loss to the Knicks behind them as they are on a two-game road win streak.
After their 95-92 win over the Boston Celtics, it is now time for the national media to give the Mavs the respect they deserve.
Firstly, their defense deserves a lot of credit for limiting various Celtics stars from becoming factors.
Boston Forward, Jayson Tatum, was limited to 21 points on 7-23 (30.4 FG%) shooting after he averaged 41 PPG coming into today's game.
Here are a few reasons why Dallas was successful in defending Tatum to secure a win in Boston.
Dorian Finney Smith does it again
The main cause for the Mavs' defensive improvement has been the play of Dorian Finney-Smith.
In each of the past four seasons, he has drastically improved his presence as an on-ball defender, in which he takes on the opposing team's best player.
He guarded Tatum all night and did not disappoint as he did not shoot the ball like he has in the last five games.
His sticky defense frustrated Tatum as he could not comfortably score with much success over the past five games.
Finney-Smith is known for defense, but his offense has been phenomenal as he finished with 19 points.
Finney-Smith should be a candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year because his play is a large part of the Mavs success.
Hustle!
Hustle on both ends of the court was good tonight than in the poor showing Wednesday against the Knicks.
Luka Doncic has stepped up his game on defense as he made a few stops for some fast break scores.
Above all, If Dallas plays hard-nosed defense like today, they become a different ball club.
With 14 games remaining, it will be good to see how well the Mavs can keep up this unselfish basketball.
The aggressive defense mentality could be the success for Dallas to make it past the first round of the playoffs.
In conclusion, they are on the right track in building team chemistry and peaking with playoffs around the corner.
Featured Image by Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
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