{"id":191107,"date":"2026-03-05T02:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/191107\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T02:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:57:16","slug":"dallas-mavericks-offensive-woes-arent-a-surprise-but-help-could-be-on-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/191107\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks\u2019 offensive woes aren\u2019t a surprise, but help could be on the way"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO \u2013 The Mavericks<\/a> can thank their offense for a dreadful start to March. <\/p>\n

Dallas scored a season-low 87 points in Sunday\u2019s loss to Oklahoma City<\/a> and barely beat that mark Tuesday in losing 117-90 in Charlotte<\/a>. Those are the Mavericks\u2019 lowest totals since scoring 92 points against San Antonio on opening night<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Look no further than the 3-point disparity to show why the Mavericks suffered their fourth straight loss on a night when Kon Knueppel \u2013 one of the best perimeter shooters in the NBA \u2013 was limited to just one triple. They converted on three of their 22 3-point attempts, while Charlotte launched more than double that amount, and 20 went through the net.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey have shooters out there and they got guys who can create threes, and they shot 51 of them tonight,\u201d Kidd said after Tuesday\u2019s loss. \u201cFor us, the positive is we got to the free throw line 40-something times. Understand if we were trading two for threes, that\u2019s not gonna put you in a situation to win, but again we didn\u2019t shoot the three well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to ask one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA to flip a switch and turn into the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, even if the Mavericks have their former sharpshooter Klay Thompson<\/a>, who missed Tuesday\u2019s game with a right adductor contusion.<\/p>\n

The primary problem with Dallas\u2019 recent offensive woes lies in being down several rotation players. Injuries are no surprise, but an average of 92.2 points is sitting on the bench in street clothes with Thompson, Marvin Bagley III, Cooper Flagg<\/a> and Naji Marshall out, not to mention Kyrie Irving<\/a> and Dereck Lively II.<\/p>\n

Thompson and Irving are two of the Mavericks\u2019 top high-volume 3-point shooters, along with Max Christie, who\u2019s averaging a career-high 41.2% from beyond the arc. But the fourth-year guard has been in a slump since Jan. 28, when he went 0 for 5 from beyond the arc against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Since then, Christie has gone 24 of 83 from distance, which equates to 28.9%.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks are getting good looks, probably none better than Christie\u2019s corner heave that hit the side of the backboard in the second quarter Tuesday night. He made just one of his seven 3-point attempts. The Mavericks not only need to shoot better from the perimeter, but they also need Christie to regain his offensive rhythm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the life of a 3-point shooter,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cYou go through spells of hot, cold, warm, and right now we gotta get him going. He\u2019s on a cold streak right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Sunday\u2019s loss to Oklahoma City, Christie said his career 3-point year has forced teams to adjust, so he has to adjust in kind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to find ways to shoot it in tighter spaces, quicker releases and whatnot, so that\u2019s an adjustment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a long season and people get fatigued. Honestly, I had a little bit of fatigue, physically and mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mavericks, who are 63 games into the season with 19 left, will have to navigate life on the road for the majority of March while being shorthanded. Their offense won\u2019t have a chance to improve until they get healthier.<\/p>\n

Dallas is one game into a six-game road trip, its longest since the 2010-11 season. After that, they\u2019ll return home for one game against the Cavaliers before hitting the road for a two-game trip in Cleveland and New Orleans.<\/p>\n

The team will have a difficult time manufacturing offense against contenders and playoff hopefuls without its core, including Marshall, who\u2019s missed the last two games with a finger contusion on his right hand. That affects his overall efficiency, which is at a career-high 53.1%, and his 3-point shooting, which is at 29.5%. <\/p>\n

Marshall was upgraded to probable for Thursday\u2019s game against the Orlando Magic. Flagg, who\u2019s missed the last eight games with a left midfoot sprain, went through a pregame warmup Tuesday and was upgraded to questionable. The Mavericks are 4-8 without him this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need him and it shows,\u201d P.J. Washington said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The star rookie\u2019s return would provide an instant boost for the Mavericks and for him \u2014 especially if it comes in Boston, where supporters from Maine are expected to make it an unofficial homecoming game.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Mavericks\u2019 Max Christie praises star rookie Cooper Flagg: \u2018There is no ceiling for him\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Christie spoke about how Flagg has performed so far and what he thinks the future holds for the 19-year-old star.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/a>Ahead of Dallas City Council vote, dozens weigh in on future of City Hall <\/a><\/p>\n

At least 20 people addressed the council during the morning meeting and about 70 more registered to speak at a special-called session at noon.<\/p>\n

Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO \u2013 The Mavericks can thank their offense for a dreadful start to March. Dallas scored a season-low…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4642,102,104,2582,103,4280,4648,4641,4281,3080,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-191107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-cooper-flagg","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-headlines","11":"tag-dallas-mavericks","12":"tag-dallas-news","13":"tag-jason-kidd","14":"tag-klay-thompson","15":"tag-kyrie-irving","16":"tag-mavericks","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}