Mavs’ Season-Opening Loss to Suns: 3 Big Observations

Although the Dallas Mavericks lost their first game of the season against the Phoenix Suns in disappointing fashion, they showed potential of what they could become this season. Here’s our three biggest observations from Wednesday night’s action.

As disappointing as the Dallas Mavericks’ season-opening loss to the Phoenix Suns was on Wednesday night, things could’ve been much worse. We know this because we witnessed the Mavs getting thumped by the Atlanta Hawks 113-87 in last season’s opener.

Although the Mavs blew a 22-point lead in the 107-105 loss to Phoenix, the fact that they were able to build such a lead on the road, with new roster pieces, against a team with an axe to grind due to being embarrassed by Dallas in the playoffs, was impressive nonetheless.

It’s a long 82-game season, and there’s a lot of room for growth for these Mavs. Here’s three big observations from Wednesday night.

1. Christian Wood is Seamless Mavs Fit and Should Play More

On paper, Wood always seemed like he’d be a great fit with Luka Doncic and the Mavs as a whole. He showed flashes of that being true in preseason, and he did it again on opening night by scoring 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds in just 24 minutes off the bench. He shot an efficient 9-15 from the field, including 4-7 from deep.

Every time Wood came in the game, the Mavs’ lead would grow. And every time he subbed out, the Suns cut into that lead considerably. He scored 16 consecutive points for the Mavs from the end of the third quarter through the first five minutes of the fourth before being subbed out. By the time Wood came back in at the two-minute mark, Phoenix had already reclaimed the lead.

After playing 12 consecutive minutes, Wood likely needed a quick breather in the fourth, but he should’ve been inserted back into the game much sooner than the final two minutes. Whether Wood starts or not — and let’s be honest, he’s probably too talented not to start at center eventually — he should still be playing 30+ minutes per game regardless.

Perhaps coach Jason Kidd can tweak his rotation to where Wood comes in around the eight-minute mark of the first and third quarters instead of the six-minute mark in order to get his minutes up to where they need to be. Wood is off to a great start, and it could be even better going forward.

2. Doncic is MVP-Ready, But Still Needs More Ball-Handling Help

The Mavs had roster questions heading into the season, but Luka Doncic was not one of them. The MVP favorite got his campaign off to a strong start with a 35-point performance vs. Phoenix. Despite all the things that went wrong for Dallas on Wednesday night — Wood’s lack of minutes and the team shooting 21-34 on free throws being the biggest — Doncic still almost snatched victory from the jaws of defeat at the end of the game.

As has been the case throughout Doncic’s entire career so far, he needs more help on a more consistent basis. When role players like Dorian Finney-Smith, Reggie Bullock, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber are hitting their shots, the Mavs look nearly unbeatable. But when those guys struggle, Doncic’s burden increases and Dallas looks much more vulnerable.

3. Mavs Should Consider Moving Tim Hardaway Jr. to Make Rotation Room for Jaden Hardy

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, the Mavs might have to move on from Hardaway Jr. this season in order to give 20-year-old rookie Jaden Hardy more room to grow … especially if Hardaway can’t prove to be more consistent in Kidd’s system.

Hardaway played 25 minutes off the bench in the loss against Phoenix and finished with nine points on 3-10 shooting, including 1-5 from the field. Everyone knows he’s a streaky-shooting player, but the Mavs need more from Hardaway going forward if he’s going to continue playing significant minutes in Kidd’s rotation.

Last season, Hardaway shot just 33.6 percent from deep before his year ended due to a foot injury. This came after two straight seasons of shooting nearly 40 percent on 3s under former coach Rick Carlisle. Perhaps he can turn it around and ease our doubts this season, but so far, he still just doesn’t seem like a great fit in Kidd’s system.

And if Dallas is going to have a shooting guard going 3-10 from the field off the bench on a regular basis, it might as well be from a young prospect with high upside like Hardy. Although typical rookie struggles would be inevitable, throwing the youngster in the thick of it early on could pay big dividends later on. 

Hardaway was in trade rumors last season until he suffered his foot injury, and that might be the case this season as well.

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