What We Learned From Mavs' Massive 3rd Quarter vs. Knicks
In the Dallas Mavericks' 121-100 win over the New York Knicks on Saturday, they put together their best quarter of basketball. After trailing by seven at halftime, they used a 41-15 scoring differential in the third period to take over the game completely.
The level of execution from the Mavs was staggering. Luka Doncic (19 points) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (17 points) each outscored the Knicks by themselves. Again, how often do you see not one, but two players outscore the opposition for a whole quarter in an NBA game?
"The way we played in the third quarter, you can see that we can really play basketball," Doncic said. "It was really enjoyable being out there with the team, especially in the third quarter."
Doncic was asked a follow up, to explain what he liked so much about the Mavs' third quarter performance: "Our defense was great. We just guarded — shared the ball. That's it."
Doncic had gotten off to a slow start with the Knicks favoring clogging the paint with Mitchell Robinson while the Mavs deployed non-shooting centers like Dwight Powell and JaVale McGee. Dallas opened up the floor much more effectively after halftime and the results showed. It helped that Dallas caught fire from deep, but again, there was some strategy involved there.
Let's look at some things that we learned from the Mavs' offense in their third quarter performance against the Knicks.
Usage of "Stack" Pick & Roll
The Mavs often utilize "Stack" pick-and-roll when the opposing defense is anchored by a traditional big man that is going to play out of a drop as opposed to switch out on the perimeter. The Knicks like to prioritize protecting the paint — making them a prime target for this strategy.
The simplest of outcomes occurs when the Mavs can get the back-screener to disrupt the big defender from being able to impact Doncic's drive — resulting in a made finish. When the defense starts to solve for other things, that's when it gets interesting.
One of the critical differentiating factors between Reggie Bullock and Hardaway is the disparity in their motion shooting ability. While streaky, Hardaway is unafraid to take tough shots and it can overwhelm the defense when he's converting at a high clip. His shooting ability adds needed dimensions to the Mavs' half-court offense.
In the play below, Hardaway was deployed as the back screener in "Stack" pick-and-roll. The defense has to account for the ball handler, roll man, and shooting threat flaring out to the 3-point line. If the back-screener's man shows on the screen, Doncic likes to flip a behind-the-back pass knowing the shooter will be open.
The defense tends to try to hide a smaller guard on a shooter like Hardaway as to avoid getting bullied by Doncic. The Mavs like to bring small guards into the action with their use of "Stack" pick-and-roll to make them have to defend in the middle of the floor with a potential switch being among ideal outcomes.
Doncic commanded the switch from Brunson on this possession, enabling him to get into a quick post-up. With a small guard having to defend one of the toughest post scorers in the NBA, they opted to send help — freeing up Hardaway for a catch-and-shoot look.
Usage of "Veer" Pick & Roll
One of the more uncommon strategies the Mavs utilized in their approach was the deployment of "Veer" pick-and-roll. In these sequences, the ball screener goes and sets an off-ball screen for a teammate instead of making a traditional roll to the rim.
The Mavs found success utilizing this strategy with Doncic being such a poised passer after drawing two defenders. Hardaway was hot from deep so the defense was naturally going to try to top-lock to take away another clean look, so he cuts into open space as a result. There is no help defense in position with Dallas using a corner-in screen as a decoy action.
A big part of that previous play was the laziness of Julius Randle when defending out in space. The Mavs used "Veer" pick-and-roll again with Isaiah Hartenstein on the court, which naturally led to better execution against the initial action. Dallas showed an intriguing ability to adjust.
With Doncic often drawing two defenders on ball screens, the Mavs had Kleber go and screen for Doncic again. Instead of using it, Doncic rejected it and threw a behind-the-back pass to Kleber before Hartenstein could recover — creating a driving opportunity down the middle of the floor. With Randle helping as the low-man, Kleber kicks it out to the wing then the ball finds finds Josh Green in the corner for an open look.
Traditional Ball Screen Usage
The Mavs achieved success using traditional ball screen plays after previously struggling to get clean looks in the paint. It began with taking advantage of the Knicks deploying Hartenstein and Randle alongside each other, leading to the defense getting out of rotation.
In an effort to avoid Randle having to be the big defender out in space, the Knicks had him guard Finney-Smith. However, early in the play below, he was ball watching and was out of position when Finney-Smith drifted to the corner before attacking off the catch — setting up a baseline attack. Dinwiddie caught it in the corner and drew an X-out from Brunson before making the extra pass to Hardaway, open in the slot for 3.
With the Mavs attempting to push the pace at times, there were possessions that began with Doncic having a mismatch. Brunson was responsible for guarding him in the play below, prompting Doncic to use a simple high ball screen to get downhill. Hartenstein stayed home on on the roller while Doncic put up a short-range floater over Brunson.
Perhaps most impressive of all was a pick-and-roll involving Kleber as the screener. Doncic dragged the play out wide before snaking the screen to get into the gap. As Doncic drove from that point on, Kleber got in front of Hartenstein by setting a "Gortat" screen to seal off potential rim protection.
Heat Check Shots Were Dropping
Anytime a team is going to score over 40 points in a single quarter, there's bound to be some plays that involve heat check shots converting. The Mavs had their fair share. Among them was a transition jumper that featured Doncic using a jab step before shooting over Brunson from 3 in transition.
Another heat check took place after an offensive rebound. Dinwiddie made it a point to get the ball to the hot hand in Hardaway. With some room to work with on the catch, Hardaway let it fly and knocked it down. Barrett even had a foot over the 3-point line with a hand up before Hardaway released the shot from his hand.
The Mavs turned to Hardaway for quick trigger 3s often in the third quarter of this game. Doncic passed ahead in transition and showed trust him the sharpshooter by doing so. Hardaway had Hartenstein sagging off enough to prompt him to raise up and shoot a pull-up in transition.
Luka's Late Quarter Mismatch Hunting
Toward the end of the period, the Knicks had begun trusting their players to handle guarding Doncic on an island by switching. It was another look to try after getting picked apart in ball screen coverages.
The first of three makes derived from isolation possessions began with a sequence against Randle at the top of the key. Randle switched the screen from Kleber and Dallas cleared out for Doncic to operate. Knowing he can comfortably get the shot off, he went with a step-back 3.
Doncic had built up a lot of rhythm with his perimeter shooting to this point. He came back down the floor on the following possession and immediately went to work against a mismatch ’— this being a smaller guard in Rose. Doncic used his size to clear space on contact, then drilled a step-back 3.
Lastly, Doncic capped it all off with an isolation against Obi Toppin with the switch occurring after a ghost screen from Reggie Bullock. As Randle started approach to double, Doncic attacked right to setup a spin going middle — resulting in a short-range floater.
There was nothing the Knicks could do to handle Doncic in a 1-on-1 situation. Whether it was a base matchup or a switch, they outright lacked the personnel to stand much of a chance at all. They either were utilizing smaller guards or slower frontcourt players. Regardless, Doncic took advantage when he had the space to operate.
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