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After the trade deadline, it appeared to me that the Mavs had assembled a great 10-man rotation that could hang with any team in the league. Obviously this road trip has revealed some problems, which seem to put the rest of the season in question in spite of seeming good health.

Kyrie-Exum
Green-THJ
Luka-DJJ
PJ-Maxi
Lively-Gafford

Luka and Kyrie - Kyrie's struggles with the Celtics fans' horsecrap last night not withstanding, not the problem. There are issues with all of the other eight - some of which aren't those players' faults.

Exum - still shaking off the rust. Not playing like he was earlier in the season, but he'll be fine.

PJ - I would say it's still a work in progress, but he looks like he's going to be a great fit here by the end of the season - unless the team as a whole starts to struggle even more and he gets dispirited. Chin up, young man!

***Green - His struggles over the course of the road trip have been well-documented. I am still convinced that he's worth his new contract, but perhaps not for the Mavs, and perhaps not in the POA defender role they need him to occupy.

DJJ - This isn't tough. He's a limited player, but does some things really well. The issue is how he is used in rotations at this point.

***Maxi - Looks like his great showing in his first couple of games back was fool's good, and Kidd is playing him too much.

Lively - When he plays, he's a force of nature. I am hoping that his rather baffling limited usage is completely due to a minutes limitation due to what was, after all, a pretty serious injury. Anything short of that would be a fireable offense on Kidd's part.

***Gafford - Wow, the shine has worn off, hasn't it? It's not like we didn't know who he was. IMHO, he's just fine as a 15-20 mpg backup center. However, Kidd seems not to have gotten the memo that we spent a pick swap on this guy and that the FO expects him to play the man. I don't blame any of this on either Nico or Gafford. Gafford is fine. It's Kidd, 100%.

*****THJ - He was always the one question mark for me in the 10-man, and it has since become clear that he is a resounding NO. The Mavs are now in a position where it has become pretty evident that he's essentially unplayable unless they want to tank (they don't). His butt should be sat in favor of Hardy, but for whatever coaching and locker room reasons, that isn't happening.

Bottom line is that 1) due to THJ, Maxi, and possibly Green's issues, this is still a really flawed roster. 2) It's become quite obvious that Kidd isn't the guy to deal with these issues. 

Lots of folks are saying we could win 60-75% percent of our remaining games. I felt that way prior to the road trip. I think it's become pretty clear since that anything north of 50% will be a win in spite of the relative ease of schedule, and that will probably put us in the playin. I would be fine with the playin if it weren't for the refs' hatred of Cuban and Luka. The silver lining to all this is that hopefully it will spell the end of both Kidd and THJ's tenures with the Mavs.

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.