GAME 2: UTA (1-1) vs. DAL (1-1)| 104-110 WIN!!!!!

[Kammrath]

When one looks at single game +/-, one has to consider there are four other players on the floor with the guy you are looking at.  Right now we have a six man roster (even though nine men played).  I think the numbers worth talking about are how did Powell and Maxi play with the other starters.  How they played with Bertans, Green and Burke is just too noisy.

Like game one, the Powell with the starter minutes were largely positive.  He was +7 and +4.  The idea that he can’t be played unless Luka is in the game is just a really bad take.  His minutes with some combination of bench players haven’t been good, but neither have Maxi’s.  It isn’t the fault of either center.  We just don’t have anyone playing well outside of the top six without Luka.

In both halves Maxi subbed for Powell part way through the first/third and played with the starters for a few minutes.  He went -5 and -2 in those stints.  Of course, that all changed with the +13 the Mav’s had in the 4th with the closing lineup (when you hold an opponent to 23 points in the 4th and hit 75% of your threes for the quarter, good things tend to happen).  Maxi was a huge part of that, but everyone was hitting because once the ball started moving someone was wide open as Gobert just couldn’t get there.  A huge portion of our 3’s came from the guy Rudy was trying to rotate to.  As we said after game one, they set up the entire rotation to finish with this group.  It almost worked on Saturday.  It worked this time because the team went absolutely nuts from deep to finish game two.

A couple things of note.  Jalen got switched to Royce O’Neal this game instead of Bog.  Yes, O’Neal hit four of six uncontested 3’s, but the value Brunson brought jumping passing lanes and helping with drives was significant.  That put Reggie on Bog.  Reggie took away the three pointer for the most part, but it left him vulnerable to getting taken to the lane.  It is part of the plan though and despite what looks like the occasional easy bucket, we are holding down their 3 attempts and just held the top offense in the league to 99 and 104.

Did anyone realize the rebounding differential in the second half was only -4 (-3 in the third and -1 in the fourth).  They were outrebounded 28-13 in the first half, but really worked in the second half to turn that around.

EXCELLENT post.

I 100% get why the Mavs want to spread UTA out and go 5-out to end the game. It is why I liked the suggestion of giving DB more minutes at the 5. 

But in 38 mins, the Mavs are offensively 123.9 and defensively 97.1 when DP plays. That is +26.7 and why I have been screaming for more minutes from him in the series. The D has been by FAR the best with him in. Everyone is hitting their rotations best when he has played. As I put it in the gamethread "he organizes the D the best of the big men." And the O is not suffering with DP out there. He is so SMART in how he moves around the court even when he isn't being guarded as a three point threat. His GREAT screening forces a player to be attached to him and the spacing that results is great. He is the anti-KP in that regard (whose bad screening killed the spacing). 

In Maxi's 56 mins, the Mavs are offensively 109.4 and defensively 120.6. That is -11.1, including his FANTASTIC 2nd half last night. 

I hope Maxi is confident moving forward in the series, but I still think DP is the best big man option in this series and should be getting more burn. His screening is so key to that. DP+JB is 123.1 offensively and DP+SD is 129.1 offensively in the series. Those guys are getting really GOOD looks with DP setting screens in the offense.