'Keep Shooting It': Doncic Trusts Mavs Teammates Despite Inconsistent Start to Season
It has been a roller-coaster start to the 2022-23 season for the Dallas Mavericks, who have a 7-5 record through the first 12 games.
After a season-high four-game win streak, the Mavs played uninspiring basketball on their recent two-game road trip, as they dropped games to shorthanded Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards teams in back-to-back nights. On Saturday, though, Dallas bounced back at American Airlines Center with a 117-112 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
When Doncic wasn't on his A-game during the Mavs' recent road trip, his teammates – aside from Spencer Dinwiddie, who has been on a tear lately – weren't able to pick up the slack. Given, Christian Wood wasn't a part of that road trip, but other guys weren't getting it done either, and the Mavs' opponents knew how limited they were outside of Doncic.
Doncic got a lot of help down the stretch of Dallas' big win over Portland, as Dinwiddie took over in the clutch by nailing three consecutive dagger 3-pointers. Dorian Finney-Smith put the finishing touches on the win with a deep dagger of his own with less than a minute remaining. Whether Doncic's supporting cast is clicking or not, though, he says he will always trust them to get the job done.
“There's a trust there with each other," said Doncic. "I said after the game, I think it was Reggie [Bullock] that had an open shot [at the end], but he saw Doe-Doe [Dorian Finney-Smith] was more open. So, we got a great shot to a better shot. There's just a trust that we have to have every game.
"It's easy [to maintain that trust], you know. Of course they can't make every shot. But, if I draw the defense and attack the paint and then kick it out, they may be open all game. Just keep shooting it. I always tell them to keep shooting it. When you're open you've got to shoot it. That's it. I'm going to keep my trust in them and that is pretty easy for me."
On most nights, it will be Doncic who is the hero, but on other nights, the Mavs will need others to step up like they did on Saturday. Dinwiddie, Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 20, 19 and 16 points respectively at an efficient rate.
“They trapped Luka. Luka does a phenomenal job of becoming a problem for their defense," said Dinwiddie, who out-dueled Damian Lillard one-on-one when it mattered most. "Whether that's back downs, pick and rolls, whatever it is. He gets two on the ball and makes the right read, right pass, and then we were just swing-swing it and found me and I was able to hit a couple of shots."
Sometimes the shots will fall, and sometimes they won't, but regardless, the Mavs are going to keep shooting ... because their leader believes in them and is telling them to do just that.
Dallas will try to build off of its win against Portland when it takes on the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. It will be the Mavs' second game of a five-game homestand. Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for coverage leading up to that one.
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Mavericks? Click Here.
