Game 6: Orlando Magic (3-3) vs. Dallas Mavericks (3-2)

[SleepingHero]

[SleepingHero]

Injury Reports:
Orlando Magic-
Paolo Banchero: OUT (torn right oblique)
Goga Bitadze: Questionable (left foot tendon strain)
Wendell Carter Jr.: Questionable (right knee tendonitis

Dallas Mavericks-
Maxi Kleber: OUT (hamstring)
Dante Exum: OUT (wrist)

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

Shocking Maxi is already out

[BoredAssistant]

Luka going to familiar spots/familiar footwork and looking like Luka. Glad both bigs have some inside game.

[Mavs2021]

I don´t think the whole Klay thing will work out with Luka. I paid specific attention to him on offense and his defenders don´t have to try hard to stick with him. They also give him some operational space to cover the paint and recover quickly. He won´t have the gravitational pull the Mavs hope for. I actually think Klay is better without Luka, cause the pace picks up. Klay is not a half court player.

[Mavs2021]

They need to teach this time keeping crew some basics. They re-set the shotclock twice for Orlando on airballs.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

I don´t think the whole Klay thing will work out with Luka. I paid specific attention to him on offense and his defenders don´t have to try hard to stick with him. They also give him some operational space to cover the paint and recover quickly. He won´t have the gravitational pull the Mavs hope for. I actually think Klay is better without Luka, cause the pace picks up. Klay is not a half court player.

IMHO, Klay and Luka would be fine. But he wouldn't get as many shots out there specially with a Luka who likes to shoot more this season that handing out assists. Small sample size, but, but to me, Luka's out there to defend his scoring title. He will not say it, but it's probably one of the things he intends to do.

The more imminent threat to Klay is Naji. He hasn't really found his role just yet, but I'm loving what I'm seeing from him. His handles allows the Mavs to play with at least 3 playmakers in the game, with two of them being 6'7". It would be a good problem to have for the Mavs if the dilemma becomes a Naji vs. Klay minutes, specially when the Mavs face off against a team with all-star wings.

I'm going to go right ahead that by All-Star break, Naji is as important as Klay to the Mavs.

[mvossman]

IMHO, Klay and Luka would be fine. But he wouldn't get as many shots out there specially with a Luka who likes to shoot more this season that handing out assists. Small sample size, but, but to me, Luka's out there to defend his scoring title. He will not say it, but it's probably one of the things he intends to do.

The more imminent threat to Klay is Naji. He hasn't really found his role just yet, but I'm loving what I'm seeing from him. His handles allows the Mavs to play with at least 3 playmakers in the game, with two of them being 6'7". It would be a good problem to have for the Mavs if the dilemma becomes a Naji vs. Klay minutes, specially when the Mavs face off against a team with all-star wings.

I'm going to go right ahead that by All-Star break, Naji is as important as Klay to the Mavs.

I’m not sure why there would be any conflict in Klay vs Naji minutes. He is backing up the 4 right now, and if he is our third playmaker he could backup both Luka and kyrie. That’s plenty of minutes having nothing to do with Klay.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Shocking Maxi is already out

Not really. He's been injury prone for a couple of years now.

[KillerLeft]

You know, I have traditionally been one of Dwight Powell’s bigger supporters around here, but I’ll be the one to say it: this year’s facial hair is bad.

[Chicagojk]

That was a bad Orlando team with their players available. Mavs took care of business though. Nice to have a pretty easy game. Tomorrow night a team that gave them fits last year comes to Dallas. It will see if Dallas does any better tomorrow.

I still didn't like how they started, but maybe I am being overly critical as they were up double digits after the first. Luka moved much better tonight. Klay not getting a ton of looks but he has made some nice passes this year. Once we find a rhythm that is going to be a nice added way to get easy looks. I really like the Marshall minutes. He is the one guy who plays off tune. I don't know if he is going to try to make a crazy shot or the smart play. You can have one player like that, and that is him. I loved how he is pushing the pace though. Nice to have him off the bench. In time though, he will need to hit some threes as the year goes on. I thought Lively was fantastic and Gafford also played well. In our 4 wins our centers were good. In the two losses, they were outplayed.

As far as mop up minutes, I thought Hardy was strangely out of it. Sloppy and didn't appear really into the game. Something to watch as it looks like he is going to need wait until injury/rest day/or when spark is needed until he sees real minutes now. Dwight Powell enters the game and the game turns into a rugby match. Never change Dwight.

I expect we get a good Pacers performance tomorrow. They haven't played in a few days and lost a tough game their last game. They have gotten off to a slow start and Rick always has his team up to play against his old team.

[BigDirk41]

I'm glad Luka finally got going, but I don't like how much he is shooting. Klay has been a model teammate so far, but he has to be super frustrated not getting many shots. Luka needs to get him more involved. I don't see the Mavs winning the title with Luka playing this style. He needs to create more shots for others and stay in that 28-30 PPG area which is still a lot. He should honestly average 11 or 12 assists a game with this roster. Hopefully Luka just needed to get his rhythm back and maybe he'll start spreading the ball around more now.

[omahen]

Great win against offense-less Orlando. Not much to say about it. Things were clicking on Mavs side and not on Orlando side. Mavs were also a reason for that as they played some good defense. Move on to the 5th game in 8 days today.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

That was a bad Orlando team with their players available.  Mavs took care of business though.    Nice to have a pretty easy game.  Tomorrow night a team that gave them fits last year comes to Dallas.  It will see if Dallas does any better tomorrow.

I still didn't like how they started, but maybe I am being overly critical as they were up double digits after the first.  Luka moved much better tonight.  Klay not getting a ton of looks but he has made some nice passes this year.  Once we find a rhythm that is going to be a nice added way to get easy looks.  I really like the Marshall minutes.  He is the one guy who plays off tune.  I don't know if he is going to try to make a crazy shot or the smart play.  You can have one player like that, and that is him.  I loved how he is pushing the pace though.  Nice to have him off the bench.  In time though, he will need to hit some threes as the year goes on.  I thought Lively was fantastic and Gafford also played well.  In our 4 wins our centers were good.  In the two losses, they were outplayed.

As far as mop up minutes, I thought Hardy was strangely out of it.  Sloppy and didn't appear really into the game.  Something to watch as it looks like he is going to need wait until injury/rest day/or when spark is needed until he sees real minutes now.  Dwight Powell enters the game and the game turns into a rugby match.  Never change Dwight. 

I expect we get a good Pacers performance tomorrow.  They haven't played in a few days and lost a tough game their last game.  They have gotten off to a slow start and Rick always has his team up to play against his old team.

Pacers are banged up. They have lost both backup centers to torn Achilles. Isiah Jackson and James Wiseman, as well as Aaron Nesmith is out with a severe ankle sprain. So, I'm sure they'll be looking for a big or two.  The game might not be as difficult as you think.

[omahen]

Pacers have lost both backup centers to torn Achilles. Isiah Jackson and James Wiseman. I'm sure they'll be looking for a big or two.  The game might not be as difficult as you think.

Mavs so far lost the two games where opposing centers (Nurkic and Sengun with help from athletic wings) dominated our centers. Indy is specific. Their (at the moment) only center is a shooting big which Mavs had historically a problem defending. Their back-up will be small ball with guys like Siakam playing center. Basically 48 minutes of five out offense. So it will be interesting to see if Mavs will be able to dominate under the basket or if they will be the one having problems defending the perimeter from five out units. Orlando was also the first team against Mavs that was really shooting it badly. Indy has a couple of athletic wings (Siakam, Toppin) and a bunch of smaller wings/guards (Hali, TJ, Nembhard, Nesmith, Mathurin) playing really fast with a lot of running. Basically totally different offense than Mavs. Mavs being on a second night of B2B will of course also be a factor. I expect a tough game. Mavs will win if they will be able to slow down Indy - winning the rebounding battle, low number of TO, good transition defense, not great Indy shooting.

[mvossman]

Mavs so far lost the two games where opposing centers (Nurkic and Sengun with help from athletic wings) dominated our centers. Indy is specific. Their (at the moment) only center is a shooting big which Mavs had historically a problem defending. Their back-up will be small ball with guys like Siakam playing center. Basically 48 minutes of five out offense. So it will be interesting to see if Mavs will be able to dominate under the basket or if they will be the one having problems defending the perimeter from five out units. Orlando was also the first team against Mavs that was really shooting it badly. Indy has a couple of athletic wings (Siakam, Toppin) and a bunch of smaller wings/guards (Hali, TJ, Nembhard, Nesmith, Mathurin) playing really fast with a lot of running. Basically totally different offense than Mavs. Mavs being on a second night of B2B will of course also be a factor. I expect a tough game. Mavs will win if they will be able to slow down Indy - winning the rebounding battle, low number of TO, good transition defense, not great Indy shooting.

Lively has been ok against 5 out but Gafford has really struggled.  Wonder if that continues we will try some small ball lineups.  Would have been nice to have Maxi available.

[Chicagojk]

That was an overmatched Orlando team last night, but it is amazing how they look different when Luka plays like the best player on the court and they try to play at a faster pace.

[Smitty]

I'm glad Luka finally got going, but I don't like how much he is shooting. Klay has been a model teammate so far, but he has to be super frustrated not getting many shots. Luka needs to get him more involved. 

Nitpicking a little but Klay is shooting 9 3's a game. Same as last year with GS. He is down 2 2PA/g though. If two 2PA/g less causes him to be frustrated, it's going to be a long season for him.

[Halfnir]

Mavs need to find an offense where they the ball finds Klay. Did not like the shots he got yesterday, too few and in the wrong spots. Sometimes it seemed that Klay moves too much on offense, so he's in motion when ball carrier drives and harder to hit with the pass. It helps the driver by keeping his defender busy and unable to help, but he does not get a shot by this.

Not something that needs to be solved immediately, but at least before a, Klay becomes impatient and b, defenses start to close down the driver. One could argue that the playoffs are soon enough, but i think they need some time to get used to a working scheme.

[BigDirk41]

Nitpicking a little but Klay is shooting 9 3's a game. Same as last year with GS. He is down 2 2PA/g though. If two 2PA/g less causes him to be frustrated, it's going to be a long season for him.

I disagree on nitpicking. It's obvious to the fans, the announcers and the media. He needs more touches or he's going to become frustrated and nobody will blame him. It's not good when Kyrie gets 11 shots to Luka's 22. Luka can resolve this situation when he quits being selfish.