Mavs Defense Fails Test in Pacers Rematch Despite 'Great Film Session'
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks have continued to sink to new lows defensively since the NBA All-Star break, resulting in going 2-5 during this stretch while producing a 126.0 defensive rating — by far the worst results in the league during this span.
“I don’t know, actually. But we know we’ve got to fix it," Mavs superstar Luka Doncic said about the team's defense.
After having a "great film session" during Monday's practice, the Mavs encountered a great litmus test on Wednesday in a rematch against the Indiana Pacers — a team they had faced nine days prior and lost 133-111 in that game. Instead of responding, Dallas gave up 74 first-half points in a 137-120 defeat.
“We know we got to fix it,” Doncic said. “On the defensive end, we got to do something better. For sure. The coaches work hard every day. Defensively, we got to be better. It doesn’t feel good.”
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There was significant optimism about the Mavs' defensive outlook after adding P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford before the NBA trade deadline. Dallas had the league's best defense during its recent seven-game winning streak, with opposing teams shooting poorly from the perimeter and a weak shooter to frequently pre-rotate against in the paint.
"We got the personnel. We got the team," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "This is actually a great test for us to be able to go through a hard time in March because it only gets harder in April and May and June. And so this is a great test to be tested in the sense that we're going to let go of the rope or we're going to continue to come to work. Everyone's coming to work. Everyone has the positive mindset, energy. Everyone's trying to do the right thing right now."
The Mavs have shown an inability to handle guarding some of the NBA's better offensive teams, especially those deploying a stretch big. Myles Turner scored 33 points in his first performance against the Mavs, followed by having 20 before halftime during Tuesday's game. Indiana averaged 36.0 assists in two games against Dallas this season, with many players having double-figure scoring performances. In the latest match, Indiana shot 50-93 (53.8 percent) overall and 18-39 (46.2 percent) from deep while only having eight turnovers. They mostly achieved whatever they wanted.
“We have to be better, just looking at the defensive side,” Kidd said. “I thought 74-70, it was a shootaround. ... We tried everything. They’re one of the best offensive teams in the league. For us, it’s about rotations and not giving up the corner three, which we have been here. Our offense is one of the best in the league. So if we can expend some of that energy on the defensive end, hopefully, that gives us a better chance to get a stop.”
A common theme throughout Kidd's tenure has been the admission that his team's offense is their defense. When shots aren't falling, they don't defend. Kidd evidenced this by bringing up the third quarter when they scored 18 points against the Pacers, while the opposition went on to score 32, resulting in being outscored by 14 at time when a run was sorely needed.
"When we score the ball, we’ll play both sides of the ball," Kidd said. "In the third quarter, we kind of went cold, and they kept playing, and that’s a credit to Indiana.
While the ups and downs have been extreme for the Mavs lately, Kidd feels the team still has the talent to turn the season around. With a 34-28 record, the team ranks eighth in the Western Conference standings entering Wednesday's NBA action, with just a half-game lead over the Los Angeles Lakers and being one game up on the Golden State Warriors.
“Every team goes through it,” Kidd said. “Maybe a couple don’t. But we’re in the midst of it. We have the talent and the mindset. It’s just being able to do it on a consistent basis. And that’s what every other team is fighting for, to be consistent.
“If we get hot, everybody will ask how did this thing turn around," Kidd explained. "And it’s about the group staying together, coming to work every day with a positive energy. And having fun. Losing isn’t fun. Winning is. And we’re all fighting for that. And that’s what this time of year is all about.”
The players understand that better defensive execution is needed. Washington emphasized that giving up 30 points per quarter is not a formula for winning NBA games. However, for a team that ranks 23rd in defensive rating on the season, the larger sample size does not indicate the ability to sustain high-level execution.
“We’re not too happy about losing,” Washington said. “But we still got a lot of games left. And we still got to be focused on the next game and just be better.
“It’s going to be impossible to win games if they’re scoring over 30 points in every quarter, no matter who the team is," Washington explained. "We could score 120 points in every game and still lose. We have to make that a point of emphasis. We have to watch a lot of film and understand where we’re messing up.”
After the game, the players had a passionate conversation in the locker room, with Markieff Morris being highlighted as a vocal leader. Gafford believes that those comments "stuck" with the players. Doncic also singled out Morris as a veteran leader the team has listened to. While the message has been sent, only time will tell if it'll translate to more significant results than their "great film session."
"Markieff Morris, he said a lot of stuff that kind of like stuck," Gafford said. "I'm pretty sure there were a lot of guys tonight, for sure."
The need for better effort and communication has become a constant mention when discussing the continued poor execution from the team on that end.
“I would say it’s just overall effort and communication," Gafford said. "At the end of the day, it’s the trust factor with the team that has to level up if we want to at least make that push to get out of the bottom third [in defensive rankings]. Those are some of the main things I’ve seen, those are some of the main things we’ve talked about in practice too.”
It's been a continued struggle for the Mavs to contain dribble penetration. The lack of connectivity with defensive rotation makes it exceedingly challenging to get stops against the talent in today's NBA. There is an admission that all elements of those sequences need to improve, between point-of-attack containment, help defense, and getting out on shooters.
"The players are too good in this league to just play one-on-one," Kidd said. "We have to do, as a group, as a team, defensively, we have to guard the ball better."
"We have to help each other, and then we have to finish the play by rebounding, and we can do this," Kidd continued. "We show signs of it. We just have to be – all and all, we can’t just give up the 3, we have to be consistent. And we’re not being consistent right now, but we do have the guys who can do it.
"Luka can play defense, but we’re asking him to do a lot on the offensive end too, and so just understanding that it’s March," Kidd concluded. "We can fix this."
After another disappointing performance, Kidd indicated the possibility of making changes before the Mavs face the Miami Heat on Thursday, including a possible different rotation or starting lineup.
"We’ll be ready for Thursday," Kidd said. "We’ve got a lot of games left, but the personnel, we can look at different rotations. We can look at different starting lineups. We’ve talked about that before the game. We have options, and we’ll explore those.”
With how poor the results have become when the stakes have reached the highest, major organizational changes will be needed if results do not drastically improve soon. Having a generational talent like Doncic and continually failing to be a successful regular season team is a clear sign of front office and coaching shortcomings.
"Rome wasn't built in a day," Kidd said. "2011 wasn't built in a day, right? There's only a few of us in that locker room who have won at the highest level. It's for us to help these young men get through this tough time."
