Doncic, Streaking Mavs Learning & Growing Despite Missing Key Players

The Dallas Mavericks have had to focus more on the offensive end of the floor with key defensive players missing significant time. The result has been Luka Doncic putting up monster stats and the Mavs winning six consecutive games. What will the second half of this season look like?

Dalton Trigg | Jan 2, 2023

Whether it's good or bad, you find out what a group of players are really made of when they're faced with adversity.

We saw a great example of that last season when the Dallas Mavericks overcame multiple injuries and Covid-protocol absences in the first part of the 2021-22 season to go on an incredible run in the second half that eventually ended in the Western Conference Finals.

Could we be seeing the sequel to that movie this season?

After getting off to yet another slow start, the Mavs, led by the historic numbers being put up by MVP candidate Luka Doncic, have steadied the ship and rattled off six consecutive wins to give them a 21-16 record and sole possession of fourth-place in the Western Conference standings.

What makes this particular run so impressive, though, is that it's been done without three of the team's best defenders. Maxi Kleber has missed 10 games due to a hamstring tear that will likely keep him out for the rest of the season. Dorian Finney-Smith has missed the last six games due to an adductor strain, and he's expected to miss at least another week of action. Josh Green, who is arguably the Mavs' best on-ball defender, has been sidelined for 12 games due to an elbow sprain with no timetable set for his return.

Doncic taking his game to new heights in the face of adversity has been incredible theater to watch, but is it sustainable for the rest of this season? If not, can he keep it up until the Mavs' roster is healthy again? Can the momentum Dallas has built during this win streak carry them through a tough January schedule?

On the latest episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, Mavs Moneyball's Editor-In-Chief Kirk Henderson drops by to discuss all of these topics, and much more, at length. You can catch the entire conversation here:

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Published Jan 2, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.