Dallas Mavericks
The 2021-22 Dallas Mavericks can be defined by taking down the 64-win Phoenix Suns to make it to the Western Conference Finals.
What did we learn?
Playoff Luka is even more ruthless in a 7-game series than previously thought.
Jason Kidd is actually a good head coach, transforming this Mavericks team to not only have a passable defense, but to have a booming defense seemingly out of nowhere.
After having a bottom-10 defense over the first month of the season, the Mavs D turned a corner in December and never looked back, a top-5 defense the rest of the way. Dallas had the best defense in The Association in January until Jan. 31 when the vaunted Celtics snuck by in the 25th hour.
Defense became the Mavs pillar of strength, a definite surprise along with the Porzingis trade.
Mark Cuban once said that he hoped that Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis would play together for 20 years. Just 2.5 years later, Porzingis was traded to the Washington Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. The trade turned out to be SO much more than a salary dump with Dinwiddie playing a very important role for the Mavs. Even Davis Bertans was in the playoff rotation.
But the Porzingis trade was always more about liberating Luka, allowing him to fully be free and unchained from that relationship with KP. It just didn’t work out. You accept things as they are and you move on.
Luka and the new-look Mavs moved on swiftly. Over the last two months of the season after the trade, the only team to win more games in the NBA than the Dallas Mavericks was the Boston Celtics, who only bested them by one game.
Every year it seems like Luka gets better as the season progresses, saving his best for last. After the All-Star Break, The Don averaged 30-9-8 which actually wasn’t too far from his season-long averages of 28-9-8, but his 3-ball was a lot more dialed in: 38.5 percent from 3 on high, high volume of 9.8 attempts per game.
There was the game in March when Luka put on a marvelous show in LA in nut-crunch time, calling his own shot against LeBron and using his precision to carve up The King. Once again: Sometimes the student becomes the master.
Luka’s court vision into the future is beyond uncanny. He uses his own rhythm and cadence to his grand advantage, making him an unguardable force that can pick apart and rip through any defense. In the 51 games this season that Luka scored 23 or more points, the Mavs went 38-13. In the other 31 games, Dallas was 14-17.
That’s what is even more impressive about the Mavs in their first-round series against the Jazz. Jalen Brunson stepped up and showed out against Utah in the first three games when Luka was out and when the Mavs needed him most. Brunson played with vigor (perhaps to earn a big pay day) as the Mavs leader after he was once just a role player.
Maxi Kleber also stepped up against Utah, having the Game 2 of his life by draining 8-of-11 3-pointers. Speaking of eight 3s, that’s exactly how many Dorian Finney-Smith hit in Game 4 against Phoenix. Doe-Doe was also a one-man wrecking crew for the Mavs on the boards.
Reggie Bullock stayed firing away as well, making multiple 3-pointers in each of the first 10 playoff games and in 15 out of 18. During the regular season, in the 21 games that Reggie Bullock scored 11 or more points, the Mavs were 19-2.
That Phoenix series was so fabulous with the Mavs going down 0-2 and 2-3 but never stopping the fight, always staying true to who they were. They flummoxed the 64-win Suns, the best team in the NBA all season long, stifling the Chris Paul and Devin Booker led offense. They put CP3 in JAIL. Luka attacked them mercilessly.
The Mavs had the biggest lead at halftime in a Game 7 EVER. Luka was hitting daggers in the second quarter. Laughing, smiling and snarling his way to one of the most astonishing Game 7 performances ever. A LOUD reminder that the best player in a 7-game series carries such a significant amount of weight.
In the end, the Warriors had too much firepower, depth and experience in the West Finals. Kleber and Bullock struggled to make the same Luka-generated wide-open 3s against the Dubs. But nobody had the Mavs beating the Suns and making it to the Western Conference Finals, so this season has to be considered a major success.
The West is only going to get stronger as the Nuggets and Clippers re-load, and the Lakers try to get their shit together.
But one thing is for certain: so long as the Mavs have Luka, they have a fighting chance.
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Additional Notes
Dwight Powell was an NBA Iron Man, one of just five players this season to play in all 82 regular season games. Powell also got hit in the face more than anybody in the league.
Tim Hardaway Jr.’s season-ending fractured foot was scarcely mentioned in the Mavs’ run to the West Finals. THJ wasn’t having his best season by any means, but you can always use another wing.
In limited minutes, Frank Ntilikina was a helpful bench player. Frankie Smokes is not an 8th overall pick caliber player where the Knicks drafted him, but he can be useful in the right role.
Teams with Theo Pinson as the bench mob extraordinaire have a serious history of success. The 2018-19 Brooklyn Nets and the 2020-21 New York Knicks. And now, the 2021-22 Dallas Mavericks.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
We realllllly don’t like to bet against Luka. Over 48.5 wins.
Mavs 2021-22 record: (52-30)
Yes!
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What’s Next?
The Mavs did not have any selections in the 2022 NBA Draft because…
Christian Wood is here! And for a great price. Although Boban was included in the deal. :/
Brunson is probably going to get paid too much money, so the Mavs need to find another shot-creator to have next to Luka.
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