Team chemistry, a stat that can’t be calculated by analytics, but can play a crucial role in a team’s success. Team chemistry is also something the Mavericks have been riding high on. Currently the Mavericks are 9-7 and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Each player is in-sync with each other, from Doncic throwing a no-look pass to Porzingis for a dunk to Brunson passing the ball off to an open teammate for a three.
The Mavericks players don’t just hang out on the court, you can see them together off the hardwood also. Doncic, Marjanovic, Kleber, Powell, Ntilikina, Brunson, and Hardaway Jr. were all spotted recently at a Texas Legends game to support their teammates Moses Brown and Josh Green, Coach Kidd and GM Harrison were also at the game. Some of the players also gave out Thanksgiving meals to families leading up to the holiday.
“Chemistry… is extremely important. I think we have that this year,”
Porzingis on SiriusXM NBA Radio during the pre-season.
Statistically the Mavericks haven’t been a team that would be a fifth seed, having an offensive rating of 107.2 which is 21st in the league, a defensive rating of 108.8 which is 18th in the league, and a net rating of -1.6 which is 21st in the league. At the beginning of the season, they started games slow, but as the quarters would go on, the team meshed better together and would start forming a comeback throughout each game. Everyone has had a chance to get involved, some of the people that can be thanked for that are the Mavericks leadership council, who had the idea of allowing all 15 Mavs players the chance to play in the team’s home opener.
This isn’t the first Mavericks team to have good team chemistry, in fact the 2011 championship team showed what good team chemistry could bring. The 2011 championship team had one All-Star, Dirk Nowitzki. They also had one Second Team All-NBA representative, also Nowitzki, and a Second Team All-Defensive representative, Tyson Chandler. Nowitzki and Jason Terry didn’t get along with each other at first like Doncic and Porzingis but as time went on their chemistry grew just like the younger Mavs. The 2011 Mavericks were seen as underdogs but with the high team chemistry the team built throughout the season they took down one strong team after another on their journey to the title. They beat the young Trailblazers in six games, they swept the two-time defending champion Lakers, took down the young trio of the Thunders in five games, and defeated the big-three Heat in six games.
Team chemistry alone won’t win you a championship, however it will raise a team’s chances. When each player knows each others strengths and weaknesses and are able to get along with each other, especially for a young Mavs team like the one that exists now, it can take the team a long way compared to if they just had great stats but didn’t know how to work with each other.