Mavs' Christian Wood, Luka Doncic Duo Showcase Potential vs. Suns
The Dallas Mavericks may have lost their regular season opener 107-105 to the Phoenix Suns, but it did offer an intriguing look at what Luka Doncic and Christian Wood can accomplish together.
Doncic set the tone for the Mavs with 35 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Having the option of utilizing Wood's shooting in the pick-and-pop and general spacing gravity played an important role in making things easier for Doncic, but Wood offered far more than just that, as he finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, and two assists.
“I felt like I fit in great,” Wood said. “The guys were going to me, they trust me with the ball, Luka trusts me with the ball, and I was making good reads.”
Early on, Wood served as a helpful complement to Doncic when the Suns' defense was trapping in ball screen coverage. Wood displayed an ability to make short-roll passing reads in addition to being another isolation scoring threat when switching happens.
Perhaps most impressive of all was that when the Mavs needed a spark in the fourth quarter, Wood scored 16 consecutive points to provide just that. Mavs coach Jason Kidd opted not to keep on the floor in clutch-time after Wood's impressive scoring run.
Going forward, one area to monitor will be free throw shooting inefficiency. Doncic and Wood historically have underwhelmed in their free throw shooting results. Even with Doncic converting on all 13 of his free throw attempts, the Mavs still shot 21-34 (61.8 percent) as a team, with Wood going 3-10 (30.0 percent). Teams could become more willing to send them to the free throw line in key moments instead of guarding them.
“We just didn’t close the game out,” Wood said. “I think the big thing for us is we got a 20-point lead and we got a little complacent.
“We missed a lot of free throws and that really cost us the game, especially me. That’s kind of inexcusable to miss seven free throws.”
The production that Doncic and Wood can achieve as a duo has impressive potential. Will the Mavs look to extend how long they share the floor by starting Wood and moving JaVale McGee to the bench unit? It remains to be seen, but it'll be something to watch. In the meantime, learning from one loss will be the priority as they get acclimated with new players and lineups.
“It’s the first game,” Doncic said. “We have a couple of new guys, it’s 81 games to go and we’re going to get it right.
“We know how to build the leads, so we’ve got to learn from it.”
The Mavs will have a chance to bounce-back from their opening night loss with a matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, Oct. 22, at the American Airlines Center.
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