Mavs Step Back: Record Prediction, Suns Opener Preview & Doncic’s MVP Chances
After an entire offseason of speculation, the slightly-retooled Dallas Mavericks are finally going to show us what they've got as they open the 2022-23 NBA season at the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
The last time these two teams met, the Mavs were victorious in a 123-90 Game 7 road win that catapulted them into the Western Conference Finals. The Suns might be playing this one off as being just a regular game, but it wouldn't shock us if they played with a little extra juice in this particular season opener.
One thing is for sure – the Mavs will be playing with an edge this season, as they feel like others around the league think their conference finals run last year was a fluke. Despite the extra motivation, though, Dallas still has some things to figure out before we can truly label them as a championship contender or not.
Will Luka Doncic, who appears to be in arguably the best shape of his career heading into a season, finally break through and win the MVP award after being the betting favorite to do so for three consecutive years now? Whether he wins the award or not, Doncic is poised to have a monster statistical year regardless.
Christian Wood displayed how valuable he can be for the Mavs' offense during the preseason, as he averaged 17 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the field and 41 percent from deep in just 22 minutes off the bench. However, can Wood prove capable of being a decent defender as well? If he can, coach Jason Kidd might have him as the starting center sooner than later.
All of this and much, much more is discussed at length on this edition of the Mavs Step Back Podcast. You can listen to the entire episode here:
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