‘Next Man Up’: Dallas Mavs' Tim Hardaway Jr. Making 'Great’ Impact as Sixth Man
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With Kyrie Irving sidelined due to a left foot sprain for the Dallas Mavericks' 130-117 win over the Washington Wizards, there was a need for the supporting cast around Luka Doncic to step up. Plenty of players answered the call, with Tim Hardaway Jr. coming off the bench scoring a game-high 31 points with seven made 3s.
"I'm happy we got the win for the most part," Hardaway said. "It's just the next-man-up mentality. Everybody came out there with a chip on their shoulder today and just made sure they didn't get too comfortable and played with poise, played with passion, played defense, grabbed rebounds, ran, and had fun."
After finishing with a 38-44 record and having no shortage of letdown performances, Hardaway says the Mavs made it a point to respond after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans less than 24 hours prior — showing to be a differentiator from the team's mentality from 2022-23.
"I think last year, with the way it ended, I think that plays a big part in how we're doing things this year," Hardaway said. "After a loss, trying to do the best we can not to lose two in a row, not let it trickle down and have an effect on us the next game, come out, attack, be aggressive, and I think that's what we're trying to do right now."
Hardaway has thrived after entering training camp, with the storyline being whether he'd accept a sixth-man role that Kidd seemingly unveiled during an interview on 97.1 The Freak with Marc Stein. He's averaged 18.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 27.8 minutes per game through 12 games. No player has recorded more points or made 3-pointers off the bench this season.
“He’s been great as we talk about the sixth man,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “Understanding what he means to us. We all know he can start. But what he does coming off the bench for us on both ends, he’s done it for us here early in the season, and we’ll need him to continue to do that. I think he’s very comfortable in what we’ve asked him to do, and he’s doing it at a high level.”
Dallas Mavericks' Tim Hardaway Jr. attacks the paint against the Washington Wizards
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Regarding how Hardaway has made an impact, he continues to be one of the NBA's more efficient high-volume 3-point shooters but also focuses on making an impact in other areas. He attributes his success to moving without the ball and staying aggressive regardless of how many shots he gets while impacting defense and the boards.
"Just moving without the ball, being a factor on [defense], trying to get rebounds, get out on the break, trying to get easy buckets, taking what the defense gives you," Hardaway said. "Sometimes, it's not going to be your night. Sometimes, I'm not going to get up 20 shots. There'll be times when I get up 10 [shots], sometimes eight. So just being aggressive, but also still learning how to be smart and let the game come to me with the minutes I have."
The Mavs have emphasized an uptempo style of play this season after being among the league's lowest in pace over the past few seasons. With an average of 102.25 possessions per game, the Mavs rank 5th in the league in pace entering Thursday's NBA action, a category the team ranked 28th last season.
"I had the most success playing this way in Atlanta — I would say with Dennis Schroder and me in the backcourt, we used to run and gun, and I used to get a lot of easy buckets, get lobs back when I was playing with them," Hardaway said. "This benefits me a lot, especially when you have two prolific guards with Kai and Luka; a lot of attention will be on them."
Hardaway has continued to stay ready to shoot when spacing the floor, but he's also been a real threat in transition. Sometimes, he's grabbing a defensive rebound and pushing it on the break, either for a pull-up jumper to get to the rim or making a play after receiving a throw-ahead pass.
The impact of playing faster goes beyond just getting out on the break and making a play. With the offense getting into actions quicker, Hardaway has been more of a presence playing out of ball screens and flowing into handoffs or off-screening actions as he has typically done. Whether he's getting the ball in a Zoom action, being the back-screener in Stack pick-and-roll, screening in double-drag, coming off a double wide pindown, or staying active behind the 3-point line, he's provided needed versatility within the flow of the Mavs' attack.
"He's doing his job every night," Mavs guard Seth Curry said of Hardaway. "He's coming in, being aggressive and knocking down shots — tough ones, open ones, and that's who you want him to be — come in and affect the game in a positive way, as far as being aggressive. It's on the coach to bring him back, honestly. It's his job to go out there and be as aggressive as he can."
During his offseason in 2022, Hardaway was focused on returning to form after being sidelined due to an ankle injury. He was unable to play in any of the Mavs' playoff games in their run to the Western Conference Finals. He entered this past offseason healthy, helping him to hit the ground running this season. For the team as a whole, the group being healthy helped to prepare to play faster.
"Yeah, man. I think just being able to have a healthy offseason really benefited myself and some of the guys on the team," Hardaway said. "It helped us get in tremendous shape, helped us to look ourselves in the mirror and see who we truly are — set goals individually and for the team collectively. And I think we're just trying to do our best not to have what happened to us last season."
With the way the Mavs are playing faster, Hardaway sees it as being a helpful factor in the team's identity, helping to achieve wins on a consistent basis. The strength of the schedule hasn't been challenging on the surface, but regardless, Dallas has achieved a 9-3 start through 12 games playing this way.
"I think what we did today was winning basketball. You get punched in the mouth the day before, and then you come back and see what your true colors are," Hardaway said. "Especially on a back-to-back, getting in late at night and not making that an excuse, coming out here competing, moving and running like we're doing, putting up 130 points on the second end of a back-to-back, that's very impressive. It just shows how relentless and in shape we are and how we've come back."
The Mavs return to action on Saturday when they face the Milwaukee Bucks on the first night of a back-to-back before returning to Dallas to take on the Sacramento Kings the following night.
