Game 79: Dallas Mavericks (38-40) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (45-32)

[SleepingHero]

[Scott41theMavs]

Are AD and DL playing tonight, or what?

[SleepingHero]

Are AD and DL playing tonight, or what?

No update as of now so far. Kidd said last night it was possible.

[myconsumerclub]

Would be nice to see us at semi full strength. Kawi is looking like his old self and we need as much help as we can get.

[SleepingHero]

@cclark_13
Dereck Lively II will play.

Anthony Davis and Caleb Martin are game-time decisions.

Jaden Hardy is out.

Kawhi Leonard is in for the Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back.

[SwisherPrice]

Kawhi and Harden have made it look easy in these 2 games. With PJ, Martin, Christie, Naji, and whatever is left of Klay, you'd think we would be able to slow them down a little

[FireNicoHarrison]

Defense wins Championships.

135 points allowed at full strenght.

No excuses this time, we passed to beat them last year to 2 tiers under now

[Chicagojk]

Ouch. Saw a little of the game last night. No surprised with our lack of guards that we are non competitive against good teams. Touch to make much out of all the injured guys returning and lack of guards. Although the offense is so boring and uninspiring. Not a fan. The defense is worse though. So many drive and dishes for open looks.

My fear is Pj is more PF than SF. AD at 4 is the the best way to maximize this team and the centers are under utilized playing with another non shooting big. We probably won’t get those answers this year but doesn’t look great now.

Just not sure how the math works is you don’t make threes or shoot a lot of them and then give up open looks with teams who spread you out.

This franchise is in trouble.

[bubbler86]

Not good...staying competitive is a key to going into next year and the last 2 days were almost as bad as could be. I would suggest that the mavs with luka and no kyrie may not win these last 2 anyway but they would have competed.

[Chicagojk]

Not good...staying competitive is a key to going into next year and the last 2 days were almost as bad as could be.  I would suggest that the mavs with luka and no kyrie may not win these last 2 anyway but they would have competed.

The thing is this team was built around Luka.  They may not have been as good as OKc and the other teams but the team fit (outside of a really good wing defender…Marshall doesn’t do it for me as a good defender)

Now they may not have the path to rebuild the roster around new parts.  To be honest, I am not sure I even have the energy for them to try to do that either.

[ThisIStheYear]

Not good...staying competitive is a key to going into next year and the last 2 days were almost as bad as could be.  I would suggest that the mavs with luka and no kyrie may not win these last 2 anyway but they would have competed.

The only key to next year is moving up in the lottery. This year is irrelevant.

[FireNicoHarrison]

The thing is this team was built around Luka.  They may not have been as good as OKc and the other teams but the team fit (outside of a really good wing defender…Marshall doesn’t do it for me as a good defender)

Now they may not have the path to rebuild the roster around new parts.  To be honest, I am not sure I even have the energy for them to try to do that either.

What? The Mavs were 2nd in the west before Luka injury and last year we beaten them 4-2... We added Klay, Grimes, Naji but they IH&Caruso.

It would have been another great PO series, a fantastic match up.

Mavs & OKC were 1/2 tiers above other west teams.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

What? The Mavs were 2nd in the west before Luka injury and last year we beaten them 4-2... We added Klay, Grimes, Naji but they IH&Caruso.

It would have been another great PO series, a fantastic match up.

Mavs & OKC were 1/2 tiers above other west teams.

Last year is ancient history.  Also, Kawhi didn't play last year when Dallas beat them with knee problems. He's back healthy now and he makes a big difference for the Clippers. Not having Luka is extremely detrimental for the Mavs no matter how you slice it.

[SleepingHero]

I get that Spencer is on a minimum and he should’ve been a last resort dude after Exum/kyrie/luka going into this season. And that’s basically what he’s become.


But he’s legit become one of the most unplayable dudes in the league. Turnstile on defense. Heavy iso game with poor efficiency.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Last year is ancient history.  Also, Kawhi didn't play last year when Dallas beat them with knee problems.  He's back healthy now and he makes a big difference for the Clippers. Not having Luka is extremely detrimental for the Mavs no matter how you slice it.

I think that roster would have done some noise this year too...

[FireNicoHarrison]

I get that Spencer is on a minimum and he should’ve been a last resort dude after Exum/kyrie/luka going into this season. And that’s basically what he’s become.


But he’s legit become one of the most unplayable dudes in the league. Turnstile on defense. Heavy iso game with poor efficiency.

Dinwiddie is fool's gold, a pair of good games every 10.
He is not an efficient player for a contender and for sure not a starter.

But here we are. No more options.

[myconsumerclub]

Lively looked like a rookie out there last night but I did not expect him to come out and do much anyway due to his injury and time off the job. Gafford was needed not sure what his situation is now.

Kai was fantastic and he showed that he is an important part of the team going forward. You have got to stop Zubac from scoring and if a big with bulk is what it takes to do the job then that is what we need to use. I would prefer to play Kai as a back up for AD more than at center.

Powell needs to get traded along with several others. If they want to keep their bird rights so they can fit into a deal I would get Exum and Dinwiddie gone. I think Brandon Williams is a better option going forward and Din is to prone to playing hero ball and blowing our chances instead of trying to find someone that is open. Defenses have taken their toll on his 3 point % when he is a starter it drops against better defenders and he has not figured out how to take shots that are more likely to go in. Hardy was just starting to look good again and I think he is worth keeping if for no other reason he is already signed to a decent contract and he may be a good scoring option.

[myconsumerclub]

Martin was starting to look good out there. Naji needs to work hard on his dribbling and maybe Kyrie can teach him some things this offseason. Overall awareness on the court to aviod letting defenders steal the ball away from you needs to increase because it just makes you look like you do not have your head in the game. Meditation would help a lot but it may take a long time to see the benefits. Awareness is a skill you can develop just like physical skills. 

Max looks like he has skills sometimes and then other times he looks lost as heck out there. He needs to bulk up a lot more as well. That may be his problem. 

Hardy needs to just work on passing the ball more and finding open shooters. 

Klay is just getting old he just needs to break away from standing in the corner too much and contribute to rebounding when guys are fighting for it on a missed shot.

Kessler was at the game watching hope we can find a way to keep all three of our 2 way rookies. 

I would love to see us add 3 more new 2 way deals in the coming offseason. 2 bigs and a PG would be nice to add on. 

We are a fairly balanced team with older guys that we need to groom replacements. 

The old guys we need younger backups for are Irving Klay and AD. 

I would also want to try and find a replacement to develop that is similar to Luka a SF/PF body with PG talents. Using 2 PG's with a small and a big PG on the court at the same time is a nice approach to confuse defenses. 

If you consider Brandon an understudy for Kyrie that means we need to find the PG that best fits the above description and strategy.

Lots of big PG's in the draft one is there to pick in the range we are slated to pick in. Hopefully we can sneak in the play in and simultaneously tank enough to improve our chances of getting that player so we can pick him. 

I would want a couple of second rounders though there may be bigs we could take that go undrafted so that only one is needed. Dropping down to snag multiple first round picks is another option if BKN is wanting a higher pick. 

After tonights game we need to rethink what we have and figure out ways to improve the team. Gafford playing would have probably lowered the damage that Zubic did but 135 points is way to much. Our bigger guards did hardly anything to stop Harden Norman and Kawai from getting their shots. Another defensive force is needed and I was thinking Kessler and OMax might give us some hope for the future but that option is now in limbo.

[FireNicoHarrison]

We need a little Revolution, this roster needs to be fixed.... You can't trade Luka for AD and don't make any other moves.

[GATA]

AD sucks. Not even a top 40 player