Will Maxi Kleber Break Shooting Slump Before Mavs’ Playoff Run?

Being that they’re already slim on frontcourt depth, the Dallas Mavericks need Maxi Kleber to find his shot again before the postseason begins.

Make no bones about it, Dallas Mavericks hybrid big man Maxi Kleber is in a major offensive funk. In fact, it may be the worst shooting slump of his career.

Over his last 12 games, Kleber is shooting just 17-of-65 (26.2 percent) from the field and 6-of-41 (14.6 percent) from 3-point range. As painful as those numbers look on paper, it’s been even more painful to watch Kleber go through these struggles in real time.

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Maxi Kleber secures a big rebound in the Mavs’ win over the Rockets.

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Jalen Brunson led the Mavs in Luka Doncic’s absence against the Rockets with 28 points.

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Maxi Kleber contests Anthony Edwards.

The conundrum for the Mavs — at least from our perspective — is that they can’t really afford to bench Kleber (even if it’s just for general rest) due to all the other vital attributes he brings to the team, including rim protection, rebounding and overall defense. The Mavs aren’t worried, though, and they’re banking on Kleber eventually shooting his way through it before the playoffs begin.

"What I love about Maxi [Kleber] and what he's doing, is he's shooting the ball still,” said coach Jason Kidd of Kleber’s continued struggles. “Most people just turn it down and not even look. He's shooting it and they do look good — I swear they're going in.”

The Mavs have still been able to play winning basketball lately despite Kleber’s shooting — Dallas is 16-5 dating back to Feb. 2 — and that could be a sign of great things to come in the near future. After all, a career 36 percent 3-point shooter simply can’t continue to shoot the ball as poorly as he has, right?

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Spencer Dinwiddie scored 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting in his seventh start for the Mavs on Wednesday.

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Jason Kidd celebrated his 49th birthday by sweeping the season series with the Rockets.

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Luka Doncic missed Wednesday night’s action due to rest, but he is expected to be back in the lineup as soon as Friday.

“I think at some point when [Kleber’s shots do fall], it's going to be a lot of fun for him and the rest of his teammates on the floor, because they keep throwing him the ball,” said Kidd. 

Regardless of how long it takes for Kleber to find his stroke again, he will continue to get wide-open looks as teams throw traps at Luka Doncic.

Kleber’s next chance to break out of his slump will come on Friday night as the Mavs take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in a big game on the road. Dallas defeated Minnesota 110-108 at American Airlines Center on Monday, and Kleber finished that one with five rebounds, three assists and one block despite shooting just 1-of-9 from the field and 0-of-6 from deep.

“He has to [keep taking the shots],” said Kidd. “He's taking them and they're going to fall for him. When they do, it's just going to make the offense that much easier."

Dallas is more than capable of winning a first-round playoff series even if Kleber can’t figure things out, but if he can, we might be talking about a lot more than just a first-round victory in less than a month from now.


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Dalton Trigg
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.