Blessing in Disguise: Dwight Powell Praises Jaden Hardy, Josh Green in Bigger Mavs Roles
The Dallas Mavericks (35-35) squeaked out a 137-128 overtime win on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs to end a three-game skid.
For the first time in franchise history, Dallas had five scorers over 20+ points, led by Christian Wood off the bench with 28 points and 13 rebounds in 28 minutes.
With both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving out for the last three games, offensive production has been hard to come by for the Mavs, but the team has seen growth in Josh Green and rookie Jaden Hardy during this tough stretch.
"I think he's done an amazing job in our system all year and then especially in these last few games, stepping up into a role that requires a little more from him in terms of production," Mavs veteran Dwight Powell said of Green. "I think he's done a great job of finding guys, done a great job of running our offense and then still at the same time with these new responsibilities, running the floor, being a pest on defense, and contributing in the ways he has all year."
Green finished with 21 points, three rebounds, and seven assists on 9-18 shooting in Wednesday's win. Through this three game-stretch without Doncic and Irving, Green is averaging 21.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in 35 minutes per game.
"Sometimes guys can get lost when their role expands and they forget about the things that they do best and Josh has done a great job of maintaining his personality while also filling some of the voids that we have to during this stretch where guys are out," Powell said of Green.
For Hardy, he's stepped in and started the last three games — his first starts in his young NBA career — with Doncic and Irving out, playing the most meaningful minutes of his rookie campaign, including 22 points, six rebounds, and four assists on 5-17 shooting and 9-10 from the free throw line. He was also a team-high +23 on Wednesday.
"He can score. That's for sure," Powell said of Hardy. "He's also, like I mentioned about Josh, he's doing a great job of throttling his aggression at times to help the team in whatever we need."
During the last three games as a starter, Hardy is averaging 24 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists on 38 percent from downtown on just under 10 attempts per game in 39 minutes.
"He's starting to learn ways to get guys involved. He's starting to learn ways to be effective off the ball which is going to be huge for his growth going forward," Powell said. "He's ready to learn, so this is a great opportunity for him."
Though at this point in the season where every single game matters, this stretch without Doncic and Irving might just turn out to be a blessing in disguise with the growth of Green and Hardy.
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