Top 4 Observations from Mavs Comeback Win Over Heat
On the road against the top-seeded Miami Heat, the Dallas Mavericks managed to pull out a come-from-behind 107-99 victory. With the win, Dallas improves to 34-24 on the season and trails the fourth-seed Utah Jazz by 2.5 games in the Western Conference standings.
For the Mavericks, it was a strong bounce-back performance following their 99-97 loss to the LA Clippers on Saturday. From a bigger picture standpoint, though, Dallas has still won five of their last six outings and playing some of its best basketball at the right time of the season.
Now, let's dive into four of the top observations from the Mavericks' win over the Heat:
Three-Guard Lineup With Dinwiddie?
There was plenty of anticipation entering this game surrounding the debut of Spencer Dinwiddie with the Mavericks. It was a mixed bag for him in his 23 minutes of action as he finished with four points, two rebounds, and five assists. He missed each of his two attempts from beyond the arc and came up empty on four free throw attempts.
With the Heat often sending two at the ball or soft switching on the perimeter, the Mavericks were unable to do much for running traditional ball screens to get downhill. Dallas had to move the ball around and relied on perimeter shooting.
Brunson's versatility attacking off the catch makes him such a cohesive complement to Doncic. Whether he's converting the catch-and-shoot look, getting into the gap for a floater, finishing at the rim, or getting to his mid-range game, Brunson presents a lot of options. Dinwiddie will need to find a way to check some of those same boxes.
Where Dinwiddie managed to make his strongest impact was by filling in as a secondary playmaker throughout the progression of plays. However, it'll be important for him to manage to convert on open catch-and-shoot looks when they come his way to command the defense's respect.
Davis Bertans Makes Strong Debut
In his Mavericks debut, Davis Bertans got the job done. He finished with 12 points and three boards while dropping in three makes from beyond the arc while shooting at a 42.9 percent clip. When he got clean looks, he consistently knocked them down in his 13 minutes of action.
Much of Bertans' struggles with the Wizards this season had to do with uncharacteristically poor shooting execution when involved in challenging off-ball screening actions. He was more efficient in spot-up situations than all 11 of the Mavericks players with at least 50 possessions.
There will naturally be shortcomings from Bertans on defense or on the boards, but he adds a key layer of volume shooting when he's knocking shots down. With a pace of over half a three-point attempt per minute, there will be no shortage of shooting opportunities.
Perimeter Shooting Disparity Was Key
On a nightly basis, the Heat deploy a defensive scheme where they blitz the opposition's top perimeter threat. Often times, teams are looking to draw Duncan Robinson on a switch and the blitz comes to reduce the amount of situations he is being attacked.
The clear-cut focus of the Heat's defensive gameplan was to slow down Luka Doncic, and they managed to do just that against the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week.
Doncic struggled to make shots from the floor as he went 5-of-19 (26.3 percent), but the unit as a whole worked the ball around and succeed with their perimeter shooting advantage. The Mavericks' three-point shooting execution was key given their 24 points scored in the paint.
The Mavericks finished shooting 18-of-41 (43.9 percent) from deep compared to 7-of-27 (25.9 percent) shooting by the Heat. To put it into perspective, Dallas' bench matched the whole Heat team in makes from deep on eight fewer attempts.
Defense Got The Job Done
In a game where the Heat received a combined 50 points on Jimmy Butler (29) and Bam Adebayo (21), the team failed to reach the 100-point mark. Outside of those two players, Miami finished with 49 points and went an abysmal 17-of-47 (36.2 percent) from the floor.
There was a clear focus from the Mavericks to get out on spot-up attempts to prevent clean looks and to apply as much pressure on their motion shooting threats when engaged in off-ball actions.
It's very rare for Duncan Robinson, Gabe Vincent, and Max Strus to each be neutralized on the same night, but the Mavericks managed to accomplish precisely that. Miami ended up scoring over half of their points (52) in the paint with another 22 coming from free throws.
The Mavericks will need to tighten up on the defensive glass, however. Miami managed to come up with 15 offensive rebounds with Omer Yurtseven, Adebayo, and Butler each hauling in four of their own.
After another performance featuring the opponent scoring below 100 points, the Mavericks improve to 20-4 on the season in such performances.
