The Mavericks are demonstrating to their many skeptics these days that they are capable of preventing opponents from scoring. Kidd and his team have not stopped emphasizing defense. Because they are seeing results, the players have now accepted the advice of the coaches.
Over the past ten games, the Mavericks’ defensive rating has placed them among the top five in the NBA. That sample size is sufficient to demonstrate that they are not allergic to that side of the court.
Regarding his best-defense-is-offense tactic, Kidd stated that it was still early in the season. However, as you can see, our defense is now on par with our attack. And the season isn’t over yet.
“A strong team will find ways to win even when they don’t score goals, and that’s what we’re doing right now. We’ve managed to take control of the paint.
The Mavericks’ modifications have resulted in nine victories in their previous ten games, including a 132-96 thrashing of the Kings at Golden 1 Center on Tuesday. Like they did on Monday night when they forced Utah to labor for 64 points following that 41-point first-quarter outburst, the Mavericks kept the Kings to 68 points over the final three quarters.
These Mavericks are imparting knowledge to all of us.
Now, this does not imply that every game will feature flawless defense. Even the greatest teams never have it that way. However, winning more than half the battle is putting in a constant effort on that end of the court.
Kidd stated, “We can play in a lot of different ways.” “We can move slowly. After that, we are free to flee. The purpose of the season is to experience new things, get to know one another better, and learn to trust.
They won’t be upbeat all the time. How do you deal with defeat and how do you grow from it? We’ve done a fantastic job as a group of people learning from failure and sticking together.
Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving are two of the NBA’s top half-court creators, and the Mavericks play a variety of ways with each other. To score transition buckets, they do, however, have a number of runners who can move down the floor.
That’s what peeved Sacramento coach Mike Brown.
“They played last night, had to travel in,” Brown said. “We played last night, we were here. And to have five fast-break points is not good enough, especially when they had 18.”
Tack on the Mavericks’ 22-of-39 three-point shooting and we got a great look at just how lethal this team can be when both ends of the floor are working.
We also learned the following from Tuesday’s resounding victory:
Moving forward: The Mavericks began their third game of the season Wednesday morning, one game ahead of Sacramento and in the seventh spot that would have qualified them for the play-in round of the Western Conference. Undoubtedly, avoiding such is a crucial objective. However, the Mavericks need to be looking up rather than down in the standings right now. They trail the New Orleans Hornets by just one game for the No. 5 spot and the Los Angeles Clippers by just one and a half games for fourth place in the Western Conference, which would guarantee them home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. With ten games left in the regular season, there’s still a chance for
He says what is true: After the game on Tuesday, Mike Brown, the coach of Sacramento, didn’t hold back. He declared, “We got our behinds kicked.” Starting here and working my way down. Dallas has to be given credit. They truly performed in our preferred style.
Spreading it around: Dončić kept the Mavericks in front of the Kings in the first quarter, scoring 26 points for them. Then, in the second half, Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. combined for 33 points. Throughout the game, P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, and Derrick Jones Jr. all made excellent contributions. “I believe that’s a real testament to our selflessness, just our mindset going into every game knowing that we’re prepared to handle every blow that teams throw at us,” Irving remarked. “We believe we are resolved. We possess the tenacity. Additionally, we have IQ.