Doncic, Mavs Begin Crucial 4-Game Homestand; Reinforcements Coming?
Luka Doncic has squeezed every little bit of production he possibly can out of the Dallas Mavericks' injury-riddled and fatigued roster over the last month, but his team has officially hit a wall.
Following a seven-game winning streak that ranged from Dec. 12 through Jan. 2, the Mavs have now lost five of their last seven games as they enter the second half of January's schedule. They're 24-21 on the season and currently sit at fifth in the Western Conference standings – one game ahead of the sixth-place Los Angeles Clippers and 1.5 games behind the fourth-place Sacramento Kings.
Although things haven't been great lately, a turnaround could be on the horizon for the Mavs. Their next game isn't until Wednesday night, so they'll get three full days to recover from their disappointing five-game road trip. When they do hit the court again, it'll be at American Airlines Center for the first time since Jan. 7. Dallas is 16-6 at home this season and will play it's next four games at AAC against the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Clippers and Washington Wizards.
Another thing working in the Mavs' favor is that key players could finally be returning as well. Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber continue to be out, but it appears that Josh Green, who has missed 20 games due to an elbow sprain, could be making his much-anticipated return as early as Wednesday.
“Today is only Sunday, so we’ll see how he feels,” said coach Jason Kidd over the weekend when asked about Green's status. “No setbacks. Hopefully he’s ready to go Wednesday. If not Wednesday, Friday (against the Miami Heat).”
Before his injury, Green was having the best season of his young career, and he was arguably the Mavs' third-most important player. He's only averaging seven points per game this year, but he's shooting career-highs 58.3 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point range. Green has also arguably been the Mavs' best on-ball defender. If Finney-Smith returns healthy and rested, maybe that changes, but for now, Green has assumed that role in our book.
Doncic is having an MVP-caliber year with averages of 33.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 8.8 assists while shooting 49.8 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from deep. He can be Superman on most nights, but he can't be that every night, as we saw in Saturday's matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers where he put up a season-low 15 points. Fatigue played a big factor in that one, as it came just 48 hours after Doncic played a season-high 53 minutes in a thrilling double-overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
As the schedule swings back in Dallas' favor a little bit, and as the roster starts to regain health, perhaps the Mavs can put together a second-half push similar to what we saw them do last season. Reinforcements are on the way ... perhaps through a potential trade before the Feb. 9 deadline as well.
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