Wood Shines in Surprisingly-Brief Mavs Bench Role; Did Coach Kidd Overthink It?

The Dallas Mavericks blew a 22-point lead in their opening-night loss to the Phoenix Suns. There were many reasons for the loss, but coach Jason Kidd being stingy with Christian Wood’s minutes was among the biggest.

Coming into the season, we knew Dallas Mavericks big man Christian Wood was going to begin the year by coming off the bench. What we didn’t know was how brief those bench minutes would be.

The Mavs looked incredible against the Phoenix Suns on opening night for the first 2.5 quarters, building a lead as high as 22 points. MVP candidate Luka Doncic led the way with 35 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Wood wasn’t far behind him with 25 points and eight rebounds on an efficient 9-15 shooting, including 4-7 on 3s.

Despite those numbers from the new Dallas dynamic duo, the Mavs blew their big lead and ultimately lost the game 107-105 due to a late go-ahead shot from Suns guard Damion Lee with eight seconds remaining. 

There were many reasons for the disappointing loss, including the Mavs going 21-34 from the free-throw line, Spencer Dinwiddie getting in foul trouble, and Doncic going cold for a decent stretch in the second half. However, the biggest reason might’ve been coach Jason Kidd’s decision to play Wood only 24 minutes off the bench.

Toward the end of the third quarter and through the start of the fourth, there was a span where Wood was “hotter than fish grease,” as the ESPN broadcast put it. He scored 16 consecutive points to help build the Mavs’ lead from 77-76 to 93-78 with a little more than eight minutes remaining. When he exited the game at the 6:41 mark of the fourth, Dallas still had an 11-point lead. When he finally returned at the 2:19 mark, the Mavs trailed by one and never recovered.

“It’s no different than how we played in the regular season last year in the sense of we play for three-and-a-half quarters and then we run out of steam,” said Kidd. “We’ll watch and see where we can get better.”

Kidd’s comment about his team running out of steam might have applied to Doncic and some of the other players out there, but it certainly didn’t apply to Wood, who could’ve played the entire fourth quarter and still wouldn’t have cracked 30 minutes of play. Kidd might have simply overthought the situation by not riding the hot hand.

Wood isn’t concerned about his role going forward, though, which is a great sign for Dallas.

“I’m just happy to be a part of this team,” said Wood, who is on an expiring contract and hoping for a big payday soon. “Late in games, it’s just a trust thing. I have to build the trust with this team. I’m on a new team. Once I do that, I think we’ll be good.”

For the sake of the Mavs getting off to a fast start in the win column, let’s hope Wood’s opening-night performance accelerates Kidd’s trust in him heading into Saturday’s home opener against the Memphis Grizzlies.

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