Mavs Drop Another Luka-Less Game vs. Warriors: 3 Big Takeaways
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Without Luka Doncic in the lineup, the Dallas Mavericks dropped yet another game. This time, it was against the Golden State Warriors.
The Dallas Mavericks (28-26) took on the Golden State Warriors (27-26) without Luka Doncic or Christian Wood available to play. The result was a 119-113 loss, dropping the Mavs to 0-7 in games that Doncic doesn’t play.
Using a 40-point first quarter, the Warriors created an early advantage and led 40-23 at the end of the opening period. The damage was done early as far as the Mavs’ chances of achieving a victory. Stephen Curry went down with a leg injury in the third quarter, causing the Warriors to struggle sometimes.
Here are three big takeaways from the Mavs’ loss to the Warriors:
3. McGee Signing Continues to Reach New Lows
There was a point when the Mavs were more willing to play Theo Pinson at the center position in a small ball lineup than they were to give McGee minutes. Dallas has now chosen not to give minutes to McGee in seven of their previous eight games despite Christian Wood being sidelined.
“The small lineups, spreading them out, keeping [Draymond] Green on the perimeter, was the idea of having Theo at the five there for a couple of minutes,” Kidd said.
From an X’s and O’s perspective, it makes sense not to have a slow big man like McGee on the court when the Warriors are going small with Draymond Green at the five. It’s not a criticism of Kidd’s coaching decisions to say that McGee didn’t receive minutes as an issue. Instead, it’s a problem that with limited means for adding talent, the choice was to sign McGee altogether.
When building a championship team, the margin for error is very thin. It becomes even thinner when there is one superstar involved. It’s vital that free agency signings have to work for a team operating above the luxury tax with limited draft capital.
2. Late Rally Isn’t Silver Lining
The Mavs used a 13-0 run late in the fourth quarter to make it a closer game but ultimately posed no threat to actually changing the outcome. After Tim Hardaway Jr. converted a deep 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining in regulation, the Mavs trailed 116-111 — still, with a low percentage chance to win.
“We just had some mishaps there at the end – get a steal, throw it out of bounds, we couldn’t get the offensive rebound there, and Looney tips it out,” Kidd said. “We had to play perfect there at the end. But guys fought, we had a lot of guys come off the bench to help us, to get us back in the game.”
The Mavs have no room for moral victories with how competitive the Western Conference playoff picture has become. Whether Doncic plays or not, the Mavs must find ways to succeed and be actual threats.
Christian Wood and Maxi Kleber will be back from injuries soon, so there will be some help. Regardless, they need more firepower to do some real damage. Again, they are 0-7 when the opposing team enters a matchup knowing and game-planning for him to be sidelined. For a team that managed to stay afloat post-All-Star break last season when Doncic was out at times, they’ve regressed majorly.
This leads us to the next point…
1. Overall Roster Flaws on Display
The failure to retain Jalen Brunson will be an ongoing storyline as he continues to reach new heights as the Mavs seek to find a co-star for Doncic. It’s become a punchline that surely many are tired of hearing about.
Regardless, Brunson scored 41 for the New York Knicks on the same night the Mavs needed to turn to McKinley Wright IV and Jaden Hardy to play rotation minutes. Had the Mavs been able to deploy a starting backcourt of Brunson and Dinwiddie, perhaps this game’s entire fabric would have become different.
“They’re pros,” Kidd said. “They want to prove they can compete or they deserve to get more minutes. They want to prove to their teammates and coaches that they should be out there more.”
Kidd explained further: “And the other side of that is there’s nothing to lose. You’re scheduled to lose this game because your star player isn’t playing. And so, you have that mentality of nothing to lose, you’re a little looser, the basket gets bigger, and you probably have a little more fun. And sometimes, there’s just a letdown because the other star isn’t playing.”
Putting Brunson aside for a moment, the Mavs are being linked in trade rumors as a possible landing spot for Kyrie Irving. Some meet that with, “He’s a good player, but…” The same can be said in the future about, perhaps, Zach LaVine, who is signed to a five-year, supermax contract despite never being on an All-NBA team while having concerning knee injury history.
There will never be the perfect star. If the Mavs could give Brunson the contract he has now after seeing what he’s doing, they’d be crazy not to be willing to do that and pay him even more. Regardless of who or how this team needs more talent.
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