'Help Has Arrived!': Doncic Getting More From Teammates; Mavs Takes
Despite not having Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis on Friday night, the Dallas Mavericks won their fifth consecutive game with a 130-106 victory over the Houston Rockets. The Mavs are now 6-1 in their last seven games, and if it hadn't been for a Chimezie Metu buzzer-beating three, they'd be riding a seven-game win streak.
The Mavs had six players score in double figures in their win over the Rockets, including a team-high 19 points from Tim Hardaway Jr., a career-high 17 points from Josh Green, and 15 points a piece from Reggie Bullock, Jalen Brunson and Dwight Powell. Dorian Finney Smith scored 10 points to extend his career-long streak of consecutive games scoring in double digits (more to come on this later at DallasBasketball.com).
Now let's take a look at three of the biggest takeaways from the Mavericks' win over the Rockets.
Mavs Role Players Turning a Corner?
In a game that did not involve either of the Mavs' two biggest stars, the rest of the roster went 17-of-38 (44.7 percent) from beyond the arc. Dallas received five makes from beyond the arc from both Reggie Bullock and Tim Hardaway Jr.—combining to shoot 10-of-19 (52.6 percent).
It has been a season full of ups and downs for some of the Mavericks' top shooters. The current roster is constructed for Hardaway Jr. and Bullock to be pivotal sources of perimeter shooting, but both began the 2021-22 campaign slowly, to put it nicely.
However, Bullock and Hardaway Jr. have been heating up since returning from the NBA health and safety protocols.
Since returning to the lineup on New Years Eve, Bullock is shooting 48.4 percent from deep on 6.2 attempts per game. He was shooting just 27.4 percent on 4.3 attempts per game during his 27 games prior.
While change in results haven't been as extreme for Hardaway Jr., he's also improved since returning to the lineup. He's shooting on 37.0 percent from three-point range on 6.8 attempts per game and was shooting just 33.2 percent on 7.6 attempts per game before this stretch.
For the Mavs to end a decade-long drought of not being able to win a playoff series, Luka Doncic must continue to get this level of production from his teammates going forward. So far, the outlook seems promising.
It's been especially crucial for the Mavericks' complementary talents to convert from the perimeter given that Doncic and Porzingis have struggled to knock down shots themselves.
Porzingis (24.6 percent) and Doncic (26.7 percent) have been among the NBA's least efficient high-volume shooters since the start of December—both ranking in the bottom six in three-point percentage among all players with at least five three-point attempts per game. So the fact that the Mavs are getting extra help from its role players now is a huge plus.
The improvement in defensive results has been staggering for the Mavs, but the next improvement will need to be the recovery of perimeter shooting execution for Dallas' two stars. If Doncic and Porzingis can achieve this, Dallas' offense will be tough to stop.
Mavs Ball Movement Was Crisp
Without having either Doncic or Porzingis to rely on heavily, the Mavericks did not have a high usage option to turn to as the clear-cut focus of the offense.
Brunson's presence as an initiator of the offense was crucial, but he didn't deviate from moving the ball. The Mavericks finished with 34 assists as a team with Brunson accounting for ten of them.
It certainly helps when players are converting on catch-and-shoot attempts whether out of spot-up, off-ball screening actions, or in handoffs as was the case for the Mavericks in this game.
The Mavericks also benefited from various complementary making some impactful, unselfish plays throughout the course of the game and it added up. Hardaway Jr., who finished with seven assists, stands out in that regard.
Given the Rockets' inability to contain dribble penetration in general, the Mavericks capitalized often on dump-off passes to relief options near the basket for easy finishes in addition to finding cutters.
It takes a lot going well to rack up 34 assists, which is why it doesn't happen often. The only game the Mavericks have played this season that featured a higher assist total occurred on Dec. 27 when the team produced 38 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Success tends to follow the Mavericks, or most teams for that matter, when the ball is moving and play finishers are executing. Dallas has recorded at least 30 assists in seven games this season and have gone 7-0 when doing so.
Rockets Defense Was... Not Great
Going up against any NBA team should pose at least some challenges. Even a tanking team can catch a top team on an off-night and come away with a win. Houston managed to show this by following a 16-game losing streak immediately with a seven-game winning streak.
Things have cooled off significantly for the Rockets since their winning streak took place last month. However, the results are sinking to genuinely concerning levels. Allowing 80 points in a single half is a staggering mark for any team.
"They were picking us apart," Mathews said. "That's got to be where we're playing the hardest is on the defensive end. We're a young team. They scored, what, 80 points in the first half? That's inexcusable. We need to play a lot better."
There is a lot going wrong with the Rockets' roster makeup if the goal is to defend at a high-level. The Mavericks put this on full display by just playing unselfish basketball and making the right play more often than not despite not having their two stars.
Most of the Rockets' guards are poor on-ball defenders who also fall asleep off the ball and fail to navigate screens well. Factor in that Christian Wood has been abysmal guarding out in space and it's a truly concerning all-around set of circumstances.
There was some experimentation from the Rockets with lineup combination. At times, they used a super small-ball lineup with no big men. Houston often stayed home on the corners by not sending a low-man to rotate. Without much resistance from the point of attack, the results were often disastrous.
Going against one of the worst defenses in the NBA can be a helpful confidence boost for complementary talents to build a rhythm if they take care of business. The Mavericks took full advantage.
Next up, the Mavs will try to take down their second conference-leading opponent in less than a week when they host the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night.
