The Dallas Mavericks finally picked up their first win of the season, dispatching the Toronto Raptors 139-129 Sunday night in Dallas. The Mavericks move to 1-3 and released some clear pent up frustrations on Raptors roster that truly felt defenseless against everything the Mavericks threw at them.
It didn’t feel like that early on, as Toronto scored the first four points of the game, and the teams continually traded buckets for the remainder of the first quarter and first half. Dallas had 11 first half turnovers, which fueled Toronto in transition and on the secondary break — it was hard for the Mavericks big defense to set itself up in the halfcourt when the Mavericks offense was continually putting the Raptors at light speed.
Dallas trailed 66-64 at halftime, and the second half didn’t start much better, with the Raptors racing out to a seven point lead in the first few minutes of the third quarter. Something clicked after that however, and it was all Dallas after that. The Mavericks answered the Raptors immediately with a 7-0 run to tie the game, then just blew the Raptors off the floor for the rest of the quarter and start of the fourth. Cooper Flagg had a huge run in the third, dishing an alley-oop pass and having a monster dunk plus the foul in transition.
Dallas corrected the first-half turnover mistakes, and once the Raptors didn’t have easy outlets for points on the break, the entire game changed. Dallas also punished Toronto in transition in the second half, turning the tables on the Raptors. Toronto played some abhorrent transition defense, but credit the Mavericks for continually looking to push ahead with a pass.
There was a slight scare in the final two minutes once each team emptied their benches, but Dallas held on. They move on to play the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back on Tuesday.
Check back later tonight for more thoughts on this Mavericks win.
Turns out point guards are pretty important
Without Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum banged up, the Mavericks really only have one true point guard available on this roster, new signing D’Angelo Russell, who most assumed would be the token starter to hold down the guard position until Irving returns.
Instead Jason Kidd decided to start super big lineup with Cooper Flagg at point, although watching Dallas through two games it was clear no one was really playing point guard. Russell only played 24 total minutes in the Mavericks first two games, and the Dallas offense has been very bad.
Kidd decided to give Russell more leash against Toronto, and jeez, it turns out even an inconsistent point guard is better than zero point guards. Russell played 29 minutes, scored 24 points, and was a team-high plus-26. Russell didn’t even play the cleanest of games — he started 0-for-7 from the floor — but just having an honest-to-god point guard on the floor for most of the night allowed all the other Mavericks to slide more comfortably into their roles. Cooper Flagg was running pick and rolls not out of necessity but within the flow of the offense. Anthony Davis didn’t dribble the ball for 15 seconds and throw up a bad jumper, he just finished plays around the rim. Everything Dallas did felt far more natural with a true point guard on the floor.
This won’t always look this good, the Raptors defense is very bad. But during a long, 82-game season, you just have to play a real point guard and take the good with the bad. Russell will have moments that will make fans throw their remotes and coaches pull their hair out, but he’ll also provide moments like he did Sunday, getting the team composed against an opponent the Mavericks should beat and securing a win.
Anthony Davis is at his best around the basket
Davis attempted 14 shots against the Raptors — 12 of them were in the paint, and nine of those 12 were in the restricted area. Davis finished 11-of-14 from the field with 25 points, a dramatic turnaround compared to his inefficient first two games.
Simply put: Davis cannot shoot jumpers. It is just not his game. The Dallas offense can’t survive Davis taking five or more jumpers each night, especially with how cramped everything is elsewhere without Kyrie Irving. Davis is perhaps one of the best play finishers in the league, and has been for the last 10 years. Setting screens, rolling, catching lobs, offensive rebounds, that’s when Davis is at his best.
Playing Russell more minutes also just took away the temptation for Davis to isolate and dribble away the shot clock. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but Davis only isolated for one or maybe two possessions and barely dribbled. Almost all of his work was done off the catch and being near the rim. It was a sight for sore eyes. This is the version of Davis that can lead the Mavericks through the playoffs, even if it isn’t as splashy as being a isolation god and making highlight jumpers.
This was the first time in the Mavericks young season that it felt like Cooper Flagg has his moment. He had a scoring burst against the Wizards, but it was in a losing effort and sandwiched around some inconsistent play. This was Flagg’s best game as a pro by far — 22 points, four rebounds, four assists on efficient shooting.
Flagg’s fastbreak and-one dunk will be the play talked about over and over, and it was awesome. It represented what Flagg is best at, a fast-moving, athletic off-ball terminator that can turn defense to offense in the blink of an eye. It was hard to see this version of Flagg in the first two games, as Dallas’ awkward guard rotation forced Flagg into handling the ball and initiating sets. Flagg needs these reps to be clear, but putting so much focus on them kind of diluted what Flagg is best and most comfortable at, and that’s attacking off the catch and raising hell in transition.
Plus, it felt like the Russell minutes allowed Flagg’s playmaking to shine even more. Of Flagg’s four assists, two were beautiful lobs in the pick and roll, one to Anthony Davis and one to Dereck Lively. It’s easier to ask Flagg to run a pick and roll after another guard brings the ball up, or that guard runs another action to loosen the defense up and shift the floor balance. Both of Flagg’s alley-oop lobs were side pick and rolls against an empty side of the floor — plenty of space for both the roller and the ball handler to make a quick decision. More of that please! Cooper Flagg is really good.