The Dallas Mavericks defeated Utah Jazz 115-101 to end their preseason. The Mavericks struggled to hit long shots in the first half despite having excellent looks as the game was quite disorganized. They made just 6 of 24 three-point attempts, but Luka Doncic still guided them to a 54-53 advantage at the break. Coach Jason Kidd used this as a practice for the regular season, therefore the Mavericks proceeded to play the main rotation through three quarters.
Before the reserves blasted the game wide open in the fourth, the team held a small lead. The Mavericks opened up a double-digit lead early in the fourth and never looked back. It is crucial to keep in mind that while preseason game outcomes may not have much of an impact overall, the methods used to get at those outcomes often do.
These are the three lessons we discovered;
The NBA should be extremely frightened by Luka Doncic’s physical condition.
Doncic struggled from beyond the arc tonight, finishing 2-of-9, but he still scored 24 points and shot 7-of-9 from the field. In each of the last two seasons, Doncic entered the season as the MVP favorite, but sluggish starts have ruined his chances. This season, it won’t be the case because he is already using gasoline for cooking.
Christian Wood will receive a hefty salary this off-season.
Moving from franchise to franchise has made Wood somewhat of an NBA nomad. But because he was genetically modified to run a pick-and-roll with Doncic, he has finally found his basketball paradise. Even though this was by far his poorest preseason performance, the synergy in the pick-and-roll with Doncic is obviously clear. In the third quarter, he had a block and back-to-back baskets, including a pick-and-pop three, which was very amazing.
Spencer Dinwiddie will be challenging
Results during the preseason are irrelevant, especially for players with as many stakes as Dinwiddie. Therefore, the terrible 1-of-8 three-point shooting performance does not really matter. Given how crucial Dinwiddie is to the Mavericks, the process that led to that shot reveals a propensity to suddenly forget how to play basketball, which will be hard to watch. Overall, the Mavericks went 2-1 in the preseason, and their 66 percent winning rate reflects how effectively they performed. Even though the Mavericks lack a third ball handler and the defense was patchy at times, everything is well with Doncic, which indicates that most things are also fine with the Mavericks.