MAVS 103, NUGGETS 89

[DanSchwartzgan]

I'm really excited about the connection between Luka and JB. In same lineups, they have potential to dominate and this is just the tip of the iceberg we see. The space that Luka creates, JB can exploit with his skills of penetration. Not only can he knocdown an open shot (as THJ, Maxi, DFS etc.), the special thing about Brunson is that if he is provided with little space a Luka pass creates, JB can penetrate and exploit this in multitude of different ways in the paint that our other players cant do.  

Last night the team was +20 with both Luka and Brunson on the floor together.  Luka alone was a positive 5, but JB alone was a -10.  In 21 games prior to last night Luka and JB were a -2.4 net rating in their floor time together.  They were averaging about 16 minutes of overlap in those 21 games.  Last night's performance was good enough to get the full season net rating for the pair back to positive territory at 0.5.

To me, the turning point in the fourth was at the 8:00 minute mark.  Will Barton had just gone on a personal 4-0 run cutting the Mav lead to four points.  We were fumbling through a bad possession with the shot clock running down and Maxi grabbed a tipped ball at the top of the key.  Get this..."Maxi then drove and dished to Powell in the corner who hit a contested three over Jokic".  Go back in time one year and imagine writing that sentence.  Mr. .429% from 3 is shooting more of a set shot this season (I don't know why he tried to make his three a jumper in years past).  It seems to be working over multiple months now.

BTW, the Powell + Maxi minutes were +7 last night and the Powell as lone big minutes were +8.  Chriss alone was +2, Maxi alone was -3 and Maxi plus Chriss was -6.  No Moses minutes last night.

There is a fight for minutes at the wing position when everyone is healthy.  Josh Green started seeing an increase in his role with the 12/12 game in OKC and has averaged 20 minutes a game the last 8 games.  His +/- per game has been +6, +13, +9, +1, -14, +12, +14 and -1.  The team is 6-2 during that stretch with the losses being a 3 pointer against LA and a one pointer against Sacramento...both on last second shots. 

If Green keeps getting those minutes, someone is going to get shorted...especially if Brunson starts and we are finding big minutes for KP, Powell, Maxi and Chriss.  There just aren't enough minutes to satisfy THJ, DFS, Bullock and Green not to mention Frank and Sterling.  It would be nice if we could cash some of that in for our version of Jordan Clarkson (or Lou Williams in years past).  It is hard to find those guys in the current NBA.  In fact one of the reasons Utah and Phoenix are so tough is they have really good benches including ball handlers off the bench.  One unconventional place to get someone like that (now or in free agency) would be Thad Young.  He's such a good facilitator and a nice switchable forward who defends well.  It isn't easy to put together $9mm of outgoing salary and other contenders will be looking at him also.  If Josh and Frank make Bullock expendable, he or he plus Moses would be a fit.  I could see Thaddeus helping the bench unit that features Brunson and KP while Luka is sitting.  He'd also be a candidate for closing lineups.  Including Moses (or Willie) would open a slot for Chriss and our 4/5's would be pretty solid with KP/Powell at C, Maxi/Young at PF and Chriss as the fifth Big.