I’m actually really surprised this team has collapsed so quickly. The Dallas Mavericks have completely collapsed since the trade deadline as they now sit in 11th place in the West, leaving them stranded of the even the Play-In round.
For a team that has two of the Top-10 best guards in the game, it’s honestly kind of baffling to see them fail so spectacularly night after night.
After yet another loss (their 6th in the last 8 games) for the Mavs last night against the Charlotte Hornets (lost 117-109), they now find themselves sitting in the dreaded 11th position in the Western Conference as they face the very real possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. I’m sure that’s not what the Mavericks hierarchy was hoping for when they went all out this trade deadline to get Kyrie Irving to pair up with Luka Doncic.
Now, I could say all of this is Irving’s fault as he’s been a malignant, self-serving force that has done nothing but ruin the fluidity of a once championship-contending team in favor of his own personal gain and statistics as many in the media will probably spew.
But that statement is only half true as even though Irving’s personal stats (27.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 6.1 APG, 1.1 STPG) have improved since he’s left the Nets, it’s completely unfair to insinuate he’s been anything but a model citizen while in Dallas. I criticized Irving when he was doing all of his antics back in Brooklyn as he deserved to be called out for them, but I’m not going to cower away from defending him during this rough period for the Mavericks.
As far as I’m aware, the correlation between Irving arriving in Dallas and this horrible run of form is nothing more than coincidence. Well, somewhat.
Irving has not been the direct cause of the Mavericks’ struggles, but he’s definitely been its indirect cause alongside with Luka Doncic, the rest of the Mavericks rotation, and head coach Jason Kidd as the team is simply one of the most ineffective and inefficient units in all of basketball. The Mavericks are currently the 14th worst scoring team (average: 113.3 PPG)…which is the kindest thing I can say about their offense and defense.
Out of the 30 NBA franchises, Dallas is also the 3rd worst in field goals made/game (FGM) with just 39.7, the 2nd worst in field goals attempted/game (FGA) with 83.7, the very worst in offensive rebounds collected/game with 7.8, the worst team in total rebounds collected/game with 38.7, the 3rd worst team in assists created/game with 22.7, the 3rd worst team in steal created/game with 6.4, the 3rd worst with blocks/game with 3.6, and the 8th worst team in giving up fouls/game with 20.8.
The only good thing I this Dallas team does is generating and scoring 3-pointers as the Mavericks ranked 3rd best in the NBA in 3-point shots made/game with 15.0, and rank 3rd best in the NBA with 3-points shots created/game with 40.6.
So, in other words, the only thing the Mavericks do all game is create 3-point shots for Luka Doncic (34.3% 3-point shooting percentage) and Kyrie Irving (38.9% 3-point shooting percentage), while the rest of the team twiddles their thumbs. Okay, that may sound harsh to say, but is it really? What is the frontcourt’s job if it’s not to either rebound, create field goal chances, and/or make field goal shots consistently?
I praised the Mavericks brining in Irving at the trade deadline as I thought he would give the Mavs backcourt another massive threat from the 3-point range for the opposition to contend with, which would also ease the pressure on the frontcourt having to generate points. And that has panned out as Irving has been deadly from beyond the arc…and it has completely relieved the pressure on the frontcourt from scoring as they’ve simply stopped doing it.
Clearly, the stats show the frontcourt isn’t doing one of those three jobs I mentioned above as the Mavericks rank in the Bottom-3 in the NBA in all of those categories, despite having Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in the backcourt. To be honest, I’m more surprised the Mavs are actually in 11th place in the West as their stats would place them as one of the league’s worst teams.
So, when you consider the fact that far better and well-rounded teams, such as the Lakers, Timberwolves, Warriors and Thunder, are all ahead of them in the standings with a little under a dozen games left in the season, the writing on the wall becomes clear for Dallas fans and owner Mark Cuban.
At the very best, this team is squeaking into the Play-In round as one of the 9th or 10th seeds, while the worst-case scenario is this team trails off the Top-10 and finishes as a lottery team.
And wouldn’t that be pathetic to see a team with a healthy Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving battling it out for a top seeding in the lottery. I wonder if Mark Cuban has a buyback clause on that 1st round pick he traded away to bring in Irving?
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