Luka Doncic Joins Michael Jordan in Rarified Air: 5 Big Takeaways from Mavs' Win Over Magic
After blowing a 16-point fourth-quarter lead against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Dallas Mavericks bounced back 24 hours later as they defeated the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Center on Sunday night, 114-105. It was Dallas' first back-to-back of the young season.
Although the Mavs are just 3-3 through six games, there are many reasons for optimism going forward. A lot has had to happen for Dallas to lose the three games by an average margin of 3.3 points, but it's nothing that can't be fixed with time. In the meantime, though, we'll enjoy watching Luka Doncic go nuclear on a nightly basis until the Mavericks mesh into more of a well-oiled machine.
Here are five big takeaways from the Mavs' win over the Magic.
Luka Doncic in rarified air with Michael Jordan
Doncic finished Sunday night's game with 44 points on 17-26 shooting overall in 37 minutes. He's now scored 30+ points in all six games to start this season, which is something that hasn't been done since Michael Jordan in the 1986-87 season. Jordan averaged 37.1 points per game that season, which started a seven-year stretch of him averaging 30+ points per game. Doncic scored 30 points in the first half alone on Sunday, which was the fourth time he's accomplished that in his career.
Doncic is now averaging a league-leading 36.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.7 steals in 36.7 minutes per game. Although it's taken a lot of things going wrong at once for the Mavs to only have a 3-3 record, Doncic had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation in each of those three losses. The Mavs should be able to string together more wins as they continue to figure out certain lineups and build chemistry with their new big-man additions. When that happens, Doncic could be a lock for MVP if he keeps up his current pace ... although he doesn't necessarily think he has to keep up his current pace for the Mavs to win games.
“I don't think I need to," said Doncic. "Some nights, I’m going to get doubled every time and somebody else is going to be open all game. There are different teams and different coverages. I don’t feel like I need to score 30 every night. We have capable players of scoring that too. So, I think it's not going to be every night because some teams are going to double and some teams don’t.”
Josh Green making an impact ... and maybe a case to be a starter?
For the third consecutive game, Josh Green has made a significant impact – mostly on the defensive end, but some on offense as well. Green finished with just six points on 2-3 shooting against the Magic, but his constant energy and hustle helped the Mavs do well when he was out there.
Through six games, Green has the highest net rating of any Maverick that has played in all six games at +32.8.
Is he making a case to be a starter at some point this season? Perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit here, but when good things consistently happen when a particular player is on the court, it's natural to wonder if said player should receive a bigger role. If Dallas can't figure out a way to start off games better defensively, adding Green to the starting lineup and creating an elite defensive trio of Green, Reggie Bullock and Dorian Finney-Smith around Doncic would be interesting.
If that happened, Spencer Dinwiddie could join Tim Hardaway Jr. on the bench and get more time being the primary ballhandler when Doncic needs a breather. Green doesn't need the ball in his hands to make an impact on the game, which makes the prospect of him potentially starting with Doncic even easier to imagine – especially with how ball-dominant Doncic has had to be to start this season.
Christian Wood Making an Impact Despite Not Scoring Much
The Christian Wood Sixth Man of the Year campaign has hit a bit of a snag over the last three games, as he’s averaging just 9.0 points per game in that span. Over his first three games, Wood averaged 24.3 points per game. Regardless, he’s still making an impact while he’s on the floor no matter how much he’s scoring.
“All our bigs (were good) … C-Wood on-ball (defense) was great,” said coach Jason Kidd, who also called out Wood’s closing performance after Saturday’s loss to OKC. “We got a lot of bigs. Maxi [Kleber] – they were all good.”
Wood finished with just five points on 2-6 shooting against the Magic, but he grabbed 10 rebounds and was a net-positive (+5) in his 24 minutes off the bench. Wood is averaging 16.7 points and 8.2 rebounds through six games while shooting 56.9 percent overall and 55.6 percent from deep.
Wood already has a natural chemistry with Doncic, and that should continue to grow in time. The opportunities for Wood to put up bigger point totals will come, but for now, he needs to do his best to stay engaged on the defensive end and on the boards and do whatever it takes to help the team win games.
Paolo Banchero is going to be a special player for Orlando
Breaking news: the No. 1 overall player in the 2022 NBA Draft is good at basketball. Captain Obvious snark aside, it was a treat to watch Paolo Banchero operate against the Mavs for the first time this season. The rook only shot 6-20 from the field while putting up 18 points in 32 minutes, but you can see the superstar potential he has with his unique combination of size and two-way versatility.
Banchero is well on his way to winning Rookie of the Year, as he's averaging 23.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 blocks while shooting 46.5 percent from the field. As he continues to grow with the young-but-promising Magic roster, there should be many exciting matchups between Banchero and his Jordan Brand colleague Doncic in the future.
Dorian Finney-Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. settling in
After averaging a season-high 11 points per game last season, Dorian Finney-Smtih has had a somewhat sluggish start this year. After shooting 3s in the mid-to-low 20-percent range, Finney-Smith is up to 32.1 percent after scoring 13 points and hitting 3-5 from deep against Orlando. The performance included a patented "Doe-Doe Dagger" from the corner to essentially put the game away late in the fourth quarter.
Finney-Smith has now scored 13 points in back-to-back games and is starting to look more like the elite 3-and-D wing that was so vital to Dallas' Western Conference Finals run last season. Once he raises his 3-point percentage closer to 39 percent, where it's been over the previous two years, the Mavs should be in good shape.
The same can be said for Tim Hardaway Jr., who was the Mavs' second-leading scorer on Sunday with 21 points off the bench. Hardaway's overall efficiency is still a struggle, as he's only shooting 34.5 percent from the field, but he's starting to find his 3-point stroke again. Through five games, Hardaway is shooting 35.5 precent on 3s. He's averaging 14.4 points in 26.1 minutes off the bench, and he's staying alert while sharing the floor with Doncic, because you never know when you'll receive a wide-open look.
“Being ready, being prepared," said Hardaway of his minutes played with Doncic. "I’ve been playing with the guy for the last three-and-a-half to four years now. We all know he has these runs where he’ll run off 20 straight [points]. We’ve got to be ready when the ball is coming to us, be ready to attack and just be ready to deliver. Not saying it’s going to be easy, but we know what to expect. It’s no surprise.”
The Mavs now get three days of rest before taking on the Utah Jazz at American Airlines Center on Wednesday. Utah is off to a surprising 5-2 start and is being led by Lauri Markkanen, who is averaging 21.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game on 47.9 percent shooting.
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