This game was a little choppy for me. I'm not sure why, but maybe because I was focusing on mistakes made. And there were many. I also came up with the idea wondering how many assists Luka would have if some of his team mates would sink the basket. I've always thought that THJ would do better with judicious shot selection...and this game did nothing to allay that thought.

P.J. Washington? I've been sort of underwhelmed by his play in most games. Not sure if his defense should cover for his offense, but it is what it is. In this game his offense wasn't bad. 50% from the floor, 50% on threes. Dirkie Worthy? Don't rush me. I'm still thinking.

Lively is going to be good...IF he keeps improving. And I see no reason why he can't.

Kyrie had a little trouble getting started, but finally did enough to pull out an average game. That's at least what we needed.

Luka had another oh hum, pedestrian night. I'll say it right now--if Luka can stay healthy, takes charge of the team, and becomes the floor general that I think he can be--then he will be the best there ever was. What I'm saying is...he's got a lot more to learn, and more gears to use.

Gafford played nice. Nice enough that he shouldn't deserve some of the things said about him.

OK. I've been thinking. I'm giving my Dirkie to P.J. Washington. Sleep with it tonight my young man...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LUKA!

Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth)
Dallas Mavericks Injury Report vs. Cleveland Cavaliers:

Luka Doncic - probable (broken nose)
Josh Green - probable (right elbow sprain)
Maxi Kleber - probable (nasal fracture)
Dereck Lively II - probable (nasal fracture)
Dante Exum - doubtful (right knee bursitis)
Olivier-Maxence Prosper - out (G League)
A.J. Lawson - out (G League)
Branon Williams - out (G League)
Greg Brown III - out (G League)

So, I sorted through some lineup data and wanted to come up with a possible playoff rotation. 

There are 6 non-Luka minutes where they can play small ball.
There are 8 non-Kyrie minutes where Exum is on the floor with either Gafford or Lively. I added available lineup data for both.


First half:

Kai______8____Exum___4___        Kai____________12_____________
Green____8____THJ____4___        Green_4___Exum__4__Green_4___
Luka__________12 _________        THJ___4___Luka________8_______
PJW______8____DJJ____4___        PJW___4___DJJ___4__PJW___4___
Live__4_Maxi__4_Gaff___4___        Maxi__4___Live___4__Maxi___4___


Second half:

Kai______8____Exum___4___        Kai____________12______________
Green____8____THJ____4___        Green_4___Exum__4__Green__4___
Luka__________12_ ________        THJ_2__Luka_________10_________
PJW______8____DJJ____4___        PJW___4___DJJ___4___PJW___4___
Live__4_Maxi__4_Gaff___4___        Maxi_2_Live_____6____Maxi___4___


Total minutes:

Kai 40 | Exum 8
Green 32 | THJ 8 | Exum 8
Luka 42 | THJ 6
PJW 32 | DJJ 16
Lively 18 | Maxi 22 | Gafford 8


Luka 42
Kai 40
Green 32
PJW 32
Lively 18 or 26
Maxi 22
Exum 16
DJJ 16
THJ 14
Gafford 8 or 0


1Q:
Kai, Green, Luka, PJW, Lively - 4min - 51.0 NetRTG in 27min
Kai, Green, Luka, PJW, Maxi - 4min - 14.3 NetRTG in 17min
Exum, THJ, Luka, DJJ, Gafford - 4min - 17.6 NetRTG in 21min (4-man LU NetRTG since Exum hasn't played with Gafford | 5-man LU with Lively is 21.3 NetRTG in 39min) - (non-Kai lineup)

2Q:
Kai, Green, THJ, PJW, Maxi - 4min - 87.5 NetRTG in 8min (non-Luka lineup)
Kai, Exum, Luka, DJJ, Lively - 4min - 61.0 NetRTG in 26min
Kai, Green, Luka, PJW, Maxi - 4min - 14.3 NetRTG in 17min

3Q:
Kai, Green, Luka, PJW, Lively - 4min - 51.0 NetRTG in 27min
Kai, Green, Luka, PJW, Maxi - 4min - 14.3 NetRTG in 17min
Exum, THJ, Luka, DJJ, Gafford - 4min - 17.6 NetRTG in 21min (4-man LU NetRTG since Exum hasn't played with Gafford | 5-man LU with Lively is 21.3 NetRTG in 39min) - (non-Kai lineup)

4Q:
Kai, Green, THJ, PJW, Maxi - 2min - 87.5 NetRTG in 8min (non-Luka lineup)
Kai, Green, Luka, PJW, Lively - 2min - 51.0 NetRTG in 27min
Kai, Exum, Luka, DJJ, Lively - 4min - 61.0 NetRTG in 26min
Kai, Green, Luka, PJW, Maxi - 4min - 14.3 NetRTG in 17min

@GrantAfseth
Dallas Mavericks Injury Report vs. Indiana Pacers:

Luka Doncic - probable (broken nose)
Dereck Lively II - probable (nasal fracture)
Maxi Keber - probable (nasal fracture)
Dante Exum - out (right knee bursitis)
Olivier-Maxence Prosper - out (G League)
Greg Brown III - out (G League)

I thought this was a pretty good team game all around.

It's clear that Kidd has settled on starting, and playing, P.J. Washington a lot.

Kyrie is such a spark plug when we need it.

70 points by Kyrie and Luka. 53 by the rest of the team.

I'm giving my Dirkie to Luka.

Probably no right answer and a lot of choices.  Kidd, Nico, Luka, Kyrie, PJ, others all have case to make.

My choice is Josh Green though.  Josh has a golden opportunity to take the starting SF position and not look back.   This offseason it appears Dallas will look for another wing.  If feels like one way or another they are going to add a player there.   The level Green plays too may determine if that is a starter or a rotation guy.   If he doesn't grab it, they are probably looking for a starting level player.  Worse yet, Green could be used as a trade piece.   If he grabs it, he could put him in solid footing for a while here.

Last year it felt like Josh was making a jump.  He got hurt for a bit and then found himself in lower minutes.   It sort of zapped all the momentum he was building.  It is tough to make conclusions because the season was such a disaster.  Will this year be different?

Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth)
Dallas Mavericks Injury Report vs. Phoenix Suns:

Luka Doncic - probable (broken nose)
Dereck Lively II - probable (nasal fracture)
Maxi Kleber - probable (nasal fracture)
Dante Exum - out (right knee bursitis)

Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth)
Frank Vogel says Bradley Beal will be listed as questionable against the Dallas Mavericks. Beal got shots up at Phoenix Suns practice today.

Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth)
Frank Vogel says “we’ll see” if Thaddeus Young will play against the Dallas Mavericks.

Another trap game. One we should easily win. These are the kind that bite you in the ass. And once again the Mavs start out slowly.

D. Gafford did what he is suppose to do, but not as efficiently as the last two games. Wemby is a handful.

Josh Green is not a negative like he used to be in the past. Not Dirkie worthy, though.

THJ. I don't want to talk about him. He was not the good Hardaway.

Jaden Hardy. Almost the same stats as THJ, but the timing of Hardy's play was better.

Derek Lively. Oh yeah...he is our starting center.

Luka!...played 33 minutes, which is good. Played good, but somebody else took the Dirkie away from him.

Kyrie was very timely with his scoring and lifted the team to the win. I don't feel bad at all about giving him my Dirkie.

Lets win this game so we can enjoy a few days off!

Go Mavs!!!