GAME 50: DAL (28-22) @ HOU (14-37) | 93-102 loss

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Jingles and Mitchell had bad games for Utah.  You can credit some of that to our defense but I wouldn't expect performances like that from them again.

This Mavs team is weird.  Most of our convincing wins come against good teams and we tend to keep it close with bottom feeders.

Until they build a deep roster so it's not dependent on Luka and KP having great games to win,  this is what we're faced with.

[ClutchDirk]

It wasn't our bench it was 3 starters tossing bricks that killed us...

[jesusshuttlesworth82]

https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status...4573884416

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status...4573884416

He has a point

Some of these shot attempts we were getting near the end were terrible. KP was our hottest hand all night and couldn't get a single look.

That falls on the coaching.

[KillerLeft]

That falls on the coaching.

The thing is: I don't think "the coaching" is who he's low key blaming here. The Mavs don't really run plays, remember? The guy with the ball is the one making 98% of the decisions out there.

[sefant]

Was Kleber injured or was that more typical load management? If he plays vs. Bucks it looks like load management.

Mavs aren't deep and still "resting" random players more than most playoff teams. Not saying the Mavs win that game with Kleber, but it at least increases the odds to still come up with a W despite a poor overall performance. Mavs don't have the luxury to rests players. And certainly not starters. Chris Paul is roughly 100 yrs old and it feels like he rests less than most Mavs starters. Kawhi isn't resting much this year either.

Maybe the load managment already did prevent injury, and helps in the long run, and in the end the Mavs are more fresh than other teams around the time when the post season rolls around. But it certainly has hurt the Mavs in terms of having more wins on the board.

Kleber leads all starters in on/off, is the best 3 pt shooter on the team, and might even be the best defender on the team.

[cow]

Was Kleber injured or was that more typical load management? If he plays vs. Bucks it looks like load management.

Mavs aren't deep and still "resting" random players more than most playoff teams. Not saying the Mavs win that game with Kleber, but it at least increases the odds to still come up with a W despite a poor overall performance. Mavs don't have the luxury to rests players. And certainly not starters. Chris Paul is roughly 100 yrs old and it feels like he rests less than most Mavs starters. Kawhi isn't resting much this year either.

Maybe the load managment already did prevent injury, and helps in the long run, and in the end the Mavs are more fresh than other teams around the time when the post season rolls around. But it certainly has hurt the Mavs in terms of having more wins on the board.

Kleber leads all starters in on/off, is the best 3 pt shooter on the team, and might even be the best defender on the team.

Lower leg injury.  Nothing serious but the staff wanted to be cautious.

[ItsGoTime]

The thing is: I don't think "the coaching" is who he's low key blaming here. The Mavs don't really run plays, remember? The guy with the ball is the one making 98% of the decisions out there.

The guy with the ball out there wasn’t making good decisions with it. Unfortunately, most of the time passing to the other guy that is designated to handle the ball in those late game situations chooses to follow the lead of the first guy (talking about Luka and Brunson). There is plenty of blame for the coach and the player(s).

[sefant]

Lower leg injury.  Nothing serious but the staff wanted to be cautious.

Rick was asked some weeks ago and basically said that they might rest other players (not named Luka/KP) as well. Hence i am "speculating".

You can't fully trust the injury list anymore. If you want to rest some healthy players on a b2b, you are more or less being forced by the league to make stuff up. I dont think you are allowed to put injury recovery management if the player didn't have a longer injury nor DNP rest.

Kleber was out vs. Wizards (b2b), played vs. Utah, out again on the 1st night of a b2b, with a potential job on Giannis looming. Pretty convinced JRich was load management vs. Wizards.