The Mavericks are falling farther and farther back each week.  The team is in dire need of a serious turnaround if they are going to compete for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.  They have dropped 1.5 more games behind the Southwest Division leading Houston Rockets and another .5 game back from the 8 seed in the West.

Standings

Southwest Division	W	L	W/L%	GB
Houston Rockets (5)	23	16	0.59	—
San Antonio Spurs (6)	24	17	0.585	—
New Orleans Pelicans (12)	19	22	0.463	5
Dallas Mavericks (13)	18	22	0.45	5.5
Memphis Grizzlies (13)	18	22	0.45	5.5

 

Western Conference	W	L	W/L%	GB
Denver Nuggets (1)	27	12	0.692	—
Golden State Warriors (2)	27	14	0.659	1
Oklahoma City Thunder (3)	25	15	0.625	2.5
Los Angeles Clippers (4)	24	16	0.6	3.5
Houston Rockets (5)	23	16	0.59	4
San Antonio Spurs (6)	24	17	0.585	4
Portland Trail Blazers (6)	24	17	0.585	4
Los Angeles Lakers (8)	22	19	0.537	6
Sacramento Kings (9)	20	21	0.488	8
Minnesota Timberwolves (9)	20	21	0.488	8
Utah Jazz (9)	20	21	0.488	8
New Orleans Pelicans (12)	19	22	0.463	9
Dallas Mavericks (13)	18	22	0.45	9.5
Memphis Grizzlies (13)	18	22	0.45	9.5
Phoenix Suns (15)	10	32	0.238	18.5

Game Recaps

1/2 – @ Charlotte Hornets – Win 122-84:

This was the performance a lot of Mavericks fans have been hoping for, a blowout win on the road.  Dallas shot 46% from the field, 40% from 3, and only had 12 turnovers all game.  The Mavs were absolutely lights out from behind the arc to start the game, scoring 42 points in the first quarter and setting a franchise high made 3’s in a quarter with 10.

Up 65-41 at halftime, the Mavs were able to hold that lead and allow the starters to earn some rest in the fourth quarter as nobody on the team even played 30 minutes.  When shots are dropping like they were in this game it is a ton of fun to watch.  However, as the rest of the week would show, I think this hot shooting early in the week left the team unfocused for a tough back-to-back with Boston and Philadelphia.

Mavericks STARTERS	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
D. Smith Jr.	22	18	0	7	3	0	2	1	5
L. Doncic	26	18	10	4	0	0	2	0	14
H. Barnes	29	17	4	1	1	1	0	1	14
W. Matthews	25	11	3	1	1	1	0	1	14
D. Jordan	24	8	13	1	0	1	0	3	15
BENCH	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
D. Powell	23	15	8	2	1	1	1	1	23
M. Kleber	12	8	4	1	1	0	2	0	9
D. Finney-Smith	21	7	7	3	1	0	3	1	24
D. Nowitzki	6	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	15
J. Barea	13	5	2	6	1	0	0	2	24
D. Harris	12	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	18
S. Mejri	9	2	4	0	0	0	0	3	6
J. Brunson	12	2	0	4	0	0	0	1	9
Total	–	122	57	31	9	4	10	14	–

Hornets STARTERS	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
K. Walker	26	11	3	5	0	0	0	1	-16
D. Graham	33	10	1	2	2	0	3	6	-34
M. Williams	22	10	2	2	0	0	0	2	-11
N. Batum	28	8	5	4	1	0	2	2	-25
W. Hernangomez	18	6	10	1	0	1	1	2	-14
BENCH	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
B. Biyombo	14	10	7	1	0	1	0	0	6
M. Bridges	24	8	5	2	0	0	2	2	-5
M. Kidd-Gilchrist	13	6	0	1	0	0	0	2	-26
F. Kaminsky	16	5	6	3	1	0	1	0	-20
J. Macura	13	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	-7
D. Bacon	16	4	3	0	0	0	4	2	-11
T. Parker	6	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	-14
M. Monk	5	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	-13
Total	–	84	46	23	4	3	14	20	–

 

 

1/4 – @ Boston Celtics – Loss 93-114:

The Mavs got off to a real rocky start in Boston, going down 7-19 just a few minutes into the game.  They were able to rally back in the middle of the first quarter but the Mavs bench was destroyed in the last few minutes of the quarter putting them down 11 points after the first.  Throughout the first half and into the beginning of the third quarter this ebb and flow continued, the Celtics would go up big, then the Mavs would cut it close.  The remainder of the second half was a different story and this turned out to be a blowout.  So much so that the game turned into the whole crown cheering for one thing:  Dirk Nowitzki to get a bucket.  Up until the final seconds of the game the Boston Garden was buzzing with excitement watching Dirk’s last run in Boston.  He has had some great games and great battles against Pierce and Garnett with Boston over the years (as shown in our previous article:  Dirk versus Everybody) so it was great to see him get some love from the road crowd.

Dirk tried to give the people what they want but it was just not his night.  He has over 31,000 points in his career but he failed to get a single one in this game.  0-10 from the field, including 0-8 from downtown, and -23 in the box score.  As a team the Mavericks only shot 39% from the field including 25% from 3.

Mavericks
STARTERS	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
H. Barnes	32	20	3	1	0	0	1	0	2
L. Doncic	29	19	9	4	0	0	3	1	3
D. Jordan	31	12	15	2	1	2	0	1	1
D. Smith Jr.	31	9	2	3	3	0	2	3	-10
W. Matthews	30	11	3	2	1	0	3	1	4
BENCH	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
D. Nowitzki	16	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	-23
D. Powell	17	6	8	0	1	0	0	0	-22
D. Finney-Smith	18	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	-25
D. Harris	16	9	1	1	2	0	1	2	-15
J.J. Barea	18	6	4	2	0	0	3	2	-14
J. Brunson	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	-6
TEAM		93	49	16	9	2	14	13
Celtics
STARTERS	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
J. Tatum	31	18	6	0	1	0	2	2	3
A. Horford	25	10	8	8	2	0	1	1	1
T. Rozier	28	8	5	7	1	1	0	0	11
M. Smart	32	17	4	3	1	0	1	1	1
J. Brown	27	21	2	2	3	0	1	4	20
BENCH	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
S. Ojeleye	17	8	2	0	0	0	2	3	18
G. Yabusele	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
D. Theis	23	8	13	3	1	2	2	2	20
G. Hayward	30	16	11	8	0	1	2	2	6
P. Dozier	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
B. Wanamaker	22	8	2	4	3	0	1	1	13
TEAM		114	53	35	12	4	12	16

1/5 – @ Philadelphia 76ers – Loss 100-106:

The End score of this game makes it look a lot closer than it actually was.  The Mavericks started got worked in this game, the highest scorer was Wes Matthews with 18 points but he was still -17 in the box score and had 5 fouls, provided 2 rebounds, 0 assists, and 0 steals.  All of the starters had huge minus numbers in the box score +/-, measuring how well the team did when each player was on the floor.

The real magic in this game came when they gave the ball to Jalen Brunson.  In his 26 minutes Brunson put together a near triple double of 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists.  With JJ Barea in street clothes Jalen Brunson came in and executed the second team offense to perfection.  With sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff dealing from downtown and Kleber and Finney-Smith doing the dirty work, the Mavs second unit was able to bring the team back from 19 down int he fourth quarter to being down by just 4 points with 50 seconds to go.  They were not able to complete the comeback but it was definitely an impressive performance from rookie Jalen Brunson and a guy who has not seen much game time yet in Ryan Broekhoff.

Mavericks
STARTERS	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
H. Barnes	26	7	5	2	0	0	2	3	-18
L. Doncic	26	14	8	4	2	0	0	1	-18
D. Jordan	31	8	8	5	0	0	3	4	-9
D. Smith Jr.	22	2	1	4	0	0	1	4	-15
W. Matthews	24	18	2	0	0	0	0	5	-17
BENCH	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
D. Powell	17	13	4	1	1	2	1	1	3
M. Kleber	22	6	7	0	0	0	0	3	12
D. Finney-Smith	24	4	2	0	0	0	3	2	11
J. Brunson	26	13	11	8	1	0	2	0	9
R. Broekhoff	22	15	1	3	0	1	3	0	12
TEAM		100	49	27	4	3	15	23
76ers
STARTERS	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
J. Bolden	29	11	9	3	0	2	1	4	11
J. Embiid	35	25	12	5	1	1	2	4	7
B. Simmons	36	20	14	11	0	0	4	2	12
J. Redick	34	20	2	2	2	0	1	0	13
F. Korkmaz	28	7	6	4	0	0	0	1	1
BENCH	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
M. Muscala	15	4	3	1	0	0	1	4	-11
L. Shamet	24	7	1	1	1	0	0	3	1
T.J. McConnell	29	6	1	4	3	0	1	2	-2
S. Milton	11	6	2	0	0	2	0	0	-2
TEAM		106	50	31	7	5	10	20

1/7 – Los Angeles Lakers – Loss 97-107:

This game was a tale of two halves.  In the first half the Mavs were firing on all cylinders, taking a nice 13 point lead into halftime. by the end of the third quarter the momentum and the lead had completely swung in the Lakers favor as the Mavs entered the fourth quarter down by 6.  The Mavericks were outscored 32-12 in the third quarter alone, the Lakers were running and gunning and the Mavs were ice cold.

Neither team shot the ball very well, Mavs were 42% from the field and 27% from 3 point range while the Lakers were 44% from the field on 28% long range shooting.  The main different in this game was turnovers and fast break points.  The Lakers were supposed to be the tired team coming into this one, without LeBron James and on the second night of a back to back.  However, the Lakers were able to force 19 turnovers in the game and scored 34 fast break points compared to just 5 for the Mavericks.

It was a pretty ugly game from the Mavericks perspective, Doncic was the high man for the Mavs with 27 points, but the next best mark was 11 posted by Barnes, Smith jr., and Barea.  Along with that, the mere 12 assists that the Mavs had in this game is the lowest number by a Mavericks team in a game since November of 2016.  There was no ball movement, they were getting beat up and down the floor, and they weren’t making shots.  The Mavericks could have salvaged a decent week had they been able to show up for this game but unfortunately for Mavs fans they did not.

Jalen Brunson and Ryan Broekhoff, the stars of the game before, were the only DNPs for the Mavericks in this game.  Instead of playing these two, and instead of giving Maxi Kleber (5 minutes) and Dorian Finney-Smith (15 minutes) more minutes, Rick Carlisle decided to play Wes Matthews 32 minutes where he went 2-8 for 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Mavericks
STARTERS	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
H. Barnes	34	11	4	0	2	0	1	1	-5
L. Doncic	35	27	8	2	1	1	1	3	-7
D. Jordan	33	10	19	0	2	3	5	4	-5
D. Smith Jr.	27	11	0	1	3	0	4	3	-1
W. Matthews	32	5	2	2	1	0	3	2	-7
BENCH	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
D. Nowitzki	13	2	2	2	0	1	0	2	-5
D. Powell	15	8	7	2	0	1	0	3	-5
M. Kleber	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	-5
D. Finney-Smith	15	8	8	0	1	0	1	0	0
D. Harris	13	4	1	0	0	0	2	0	-3
J.J. Barea	19	11	1	3	0	0	1	1	-7
TEAM		97	52	12	10	7	18	20
Lakers
STARTERS	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
K. Kuzma	37	13	5	3	0	0	2	2	8
B. Ingram	37	29	3	6	2	0	2	4	14
J. McGee	23	8	10	0	0	0	3	5	-4
L. Ball	37	21	7	5	2	0	2	2	8
J. Hart	44	14	12	6	5	0	2	4	16
BENCH	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-
M. Beasley	9	13	0	1	0	1	0	1	5
I. Zubac	4	4	2	0	0	0	1	0	-2
T. Chandler	19	2	4	2	2	1	1	2	13
S. Mykhailiuk	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	-6
L. Stephenson	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	-5
K. Caldwell-Pope	21	3	1	3	1	0	0	0	3
TEAM		107	44	28	12	2	13	20

 

 

Weekly Player Stats (Last 7 Days)

This was not a good week for Harrison Barnes, just 14 points in 30 minutes on 33% shooting over the 4 games this week.  What is growing more and more frustrating with Harrison Barnes is his one-dimensional game.  He is 26 years old, 6’8″ and 225 pounds, and can jump out of the gym.  Barnes has good offensive 1-on-1 skills and is a good spot up shooter but he fails to impact the game in any other way.  With his ability to both shoot and attack the basket you would think HB would be have more assists than the 1.1 per game that he is averaging this season.  He is third on the team in usage percentage but he is 13th on the team in assist percentage.  Coming into this season it was clear that Barnes worked on his three point shot, it is much quicker and more efficient this season, bumping his three point percentage from 36% last season to a scorching hot 42% this season.  The next progressions for Harrison Barnes needs to be to try to make his teammates better.  HB is potentially a free agent this summer so he is going to want to make this progression sooner rather than later.

The 13 minutes per game for Maxi Kleber drives me crazy.  This is an elite rim protector, good floor spacer, and great hustle guy just sitting on our bench.  I know Dwight Powell is very efficient while JJ Barea is feeding him alley oops but his lack of offensive versatility and complete inability to protect the rim should give way to Maxi seeing more minutes.  The only thing I can figure at this point is that the Mavericks are trying to suppress his value as he approaches restricted free-agency this summer.

Luka is still doing his thing, throwing together a 19.5 point, 8.8 rebound week.  It is good to see his turnovers coming down, posting a nice 2.3 assist/turnover ratio this week.  His free-throw shooting has improved since early season woes, 74.4% on the season, but this week’s 57% on 5.3 attempts per game did not help his cause.

PLAYER	MIN	FG%	FT%	3PM	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Barnes	30.3	33%	94%	2	4	1	0.8	0.3	1	13.8
Jordan	29.8	71%	80%	0	13.8	2	0.8	1.5	2	9.5
Doncic	29	39%	57%	2.5	8.8	3.5	0.8	0.3	1.5	19.5
Matthews	27.8	49%	83%	2	2.5	1.3	0.5	0.3	1.5	11.3
Smith Jr	25.5	43%	71%	1.3	0.8	3.8	2.3	0	2.3	10
Fin.-Smith	19.8	39%	50%	0.3	4.8	0.8	0.8	0	1.8	5
Powell	18.3	64%	70%	0.8	6.5	1.3	1	1	0.5	10.5
Barea	17	36%	50%	0.3	2.3	3.7	0.3	0	1.3	7.3
Harris	14	41%	100%	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0	1	6
Brunson	13.3	25%	100%	0.3	3.7	4.3	0.3	0	0.7	5
Kleber	13	67%	0%	0.7	3.7	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.7	4.7
Nowitzki	12	18%	0%	0.7	2	0.7	0	0.3	0.3	2.7
Mejri	10	20%	0%	0	4	0	0	0	0	2

 

Western Conference Power Rankings:

Denver has earned their top spot.  They have now sat atop the Western Conference since week 9. They may want to enjoy it now because news is out that DeMarcus Cousins is set to make his season debut within the next 2 weeks.  This will make the Warriors the first team to ever have 5 All-Stars from the previous season on the same starting unit.

The Mavs have not risen in these power rankings since week 8 when they climbed all the way to #5 with their 14-11 record, sitting 7th in the West and seemingly on their way up.  Since then the Mavs have gone 4-11 and have dropped to 13th in the power rankings and tied for 13th in the West.

Houston and San Antonio are flying up the power rankings, both finding their way past the Thunder who have been 3rd or better for the past 4 weeks.  Bad news for the Mavs that their Southwest Division rivals are both heating up.

1.Denver Nuggets (27-12, 1^st in West) (3-1 this week) ↑1

This Week: W @SAC, W CHA, L @HOU, W @MIA.

Next Week: LAC, @PHO, POR, GSW.

2.Golden State Warriors (27-14 overall, 2^nd) (2-1 this week) ↓1

This Week: L Hou, W @SAC, W NYK

Next Week: CHI, @DAL, @DEN.

3.Houston Rockets (23-16, 5^th) (2-1 this week) ↑2

This Week: W @GSW, L @POR, W DEN.

Next Week: MIL, CLE, @ORL, @MEM.

4.San Antonio (24-17, T-6^th) (3-0 this week) ↑2

This Week: W TOR, W MEM, W @DET.

Next Week: @MEM, OKC, @OKC, CHA.

5.OKC Thunder (25-15, 3^rd) (2-2 this week) ↓2

This Week: W @LAL, W @POR, L WSH, L MIN.

Next Week:  @SAS, SAS, @ATL.

6.LA Clippers (24-16, 4^th) (3-0 this week) ↑2

This week: W @PHO, W ORL, W CHA.

Next Week: @DEN, DET, NOP.

7.Portland Trailblazers (24-17, T-6^th) (2-1 this week) ↓3

This Week: L OKC, W HOU, W NYK.

Next Week: CHI, CHA, @DEN, @SAC.

8.Utah Jazz (20-21, 11^th) (2-1 this week) ↑2

This Week: W @CLE, W @DET, L @MIL.

Next Week: ORL, LAL, CHI, DET.

9.Minnesota Timberwolves (20-21, 13^th) (3-1 this week) ↑5

This week: L @BOS, W ORL, W LAL, W @OKC.

Next Week: DAL, NOP, @PHI.

10.Los Angeles Lakers (22-19, 8^th) (1-3 this week) ↓3

This week: L OKC, L NYK, L @MIN, W @DAL.

Next Week: DET, @UTA, CLE, CHI.

11.Sacramento Kings (20-21, 9^th) (1-2 this week) ↓2

This week: L DEN, L GSW, W ORL, L @PHO.

Next Week: DET, CHA, POR.

12. New Orleans Pelicans (19-22, 14^th) (1-2 this week) ↑1

This Week: L @BKN, W @CLE, W MEM.

Next Week: CLE, @MIN, @LAC.

13.Dallas Mavericks (18-22, 12^th) (1-3 this week) ↓1

This Week: W @CHA, L @BOS, L @PHI, L LAL.

Next Week: PHO, @MIN, GSW.

14.Memphis Grizzlies (18-22, 10^th) (0-4 this week) ↓3

This Week: L DET, L BKN, L @SAS, L @NOP.

Next Week: SAS, @MIA, @HOU.

15.Phoenix Suns (10-32, 15^th) (1-3 this week) ↔

This Week: L PHI, L LAC, L CHA, W SAC.

Next Week: @DAL, DEN, @IND, @TOR.

Western Conference 2018-2019 Team Stats

Teams are listed in order of their standings in the Western Conference. The following heat map shows which teams excel in certain statistical categories and where teams are under performing league average.  The darker the green the more they outperform in that category and the darker the red the worse they are in that category.

ORtg – Offensive Rating – points scored per 100 possessions.

DRtg – Defensive Rating – points allowed per 100 possessions.

NRtg – Net Rating – Difference between Offensive and Defensive Ratings. No surprise that the top 3 teams in the conference are by far the top 3 in Net Rating.  However, if we could adjust these stats to not include October, I think the Mavs would be right up there with the best.