Dallas Basketball

Doncic’s 37 Points Not Enough in Mavs’ Loss to Pelicans: 5 Big Observations

The Dallas Mavericks got off to a slow start on Tuesday night while the shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans were red-hot. DallasBasketball.com lays out five of the biggest observations from Dallas’ 113-111 loss.

Dalton Trigg

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NEW ORLEANS - When it was announced that Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones were going to miss the game on Tuesday night, many believed the Dallas Mavericks (1-2) would have their way with the New Orleans Pelicans (3-1). However, this is the NBA, where anything can happen on a nightly basis, and the undermanned Pelicans stunned the Mavs by handing them a 113-111 loss at Smoothie King Center.

Riding a hot first quarter, the Pelicans ended up shooting 57.9 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from deep on the night. Dallas shot 50 percent from the field, but just 30.8 percent from deep on 39 attempts – including the final shot of the game, where Luka Doncic got up a 3-pointer from his favorite spot on the left wing as time expired. Unfortunately for the Mavs, though, ”Luka Magic” didn’t materialize this time.

Before moving on to the Mavs’ next game against the Brooklyn Nets, let's take a look at some of our biggest observations from Tuesday night's disappointing loss.

Wood Should Be Mavs' Starting Center … Or At Least Be Playing 30+ MPG

We've said this since the beginning, but it doesn't matter whether Wood starts or not so long as he’s playing enough minutes suitable for a co-star player. So far, though, he's averaging 26.3 minutes per game when it should ideally be in the 30-32 range to maximize production.

In just three games, Wood has fully established himself as Dallas' second-best player on the roster. In those 26 minutes, he's averaging 24.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 62.2 percent from the field and 61.5 percent on 3s.

Doncic leads the entire league in PER (player efficiency rating) at 43.3. Wood is right behind him at No. 2 on the list with a PER of 40.8 — ahead of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmp (38.3).

When you promise JaVale McGee the starting center position in order to lure him in free agency, it's probably tough for coach Jason Kidd to pull back on that promise so early in the season ... but Wood has been so good that he might be forcing Kidd’s hand.

McGee might be able to turn it around at some point, but as it stands, he's the only Maverick through three games with a negative net rating. Wood has been +39 in 79 minutes, whereas McGee has been -3 in 39 minutes. McGee’s defense has also given Mavs fans DeAndre Jordan PTSD so far.

Even if McGee continues to start, Kidd could shave his minutes and give a few more to Wood to balance things the way they need to be. Hopefully Kidd can figure it out, because in a tightly-contested Western Conference, you need to have your two best players on the court as much as possible to avoid letdowns like the Mavs experienced on Tuesday night.

"I'm still trying to figure it out,” said Wood. “I believe of course I am a starting caliber player, but at the same time, it's a new role for me and a new team, and I am trying to do everything right.

“I am just trying to do my job."

Mavs Couldn't Overcome Pelicans' Scorching First Quarter / Total Team Effort

If you take away the Pelicans' crazy 40-point first quarter, the Mavs actually didn't didn't do too bad of a job defensively throughout the rest of the game, as they only gave up 73 points over the three remaining quarters.

New Orleans, who was extremely shorthanded, came out on fire by shooting 85 percent from the field in the first quarter. Given, some of that crazy-high percentage was due to the Mavs' defense allowing layup lines, but the Pelicans did a great job of hitting tough shots as well.

The Pelicans had eight players in score double-digit points on the night, led by Troy Murphy III, who finished with 22 points on 8-8 shooting from the field, including 4-4 from deep. On the Mavs' side, only three players – Doncic, Dinwiddie and Wood – cracked double digits in points. New Orleans was missing its best players, but it put together a special all-around team performance in front of a raucous home crowd at Smoothie King Center.

Doncic Continues to Put Up Massive Numbers, But His Workload is Concerning

Doncic finished the night with 37 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in 36 minutes of action on Tuesday night. He shot 16-30 from the field despite having a brutal 2-13 night from beyond the arc. Through three games, Doncic is averaging MVP-like numbers with 34.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.7 steals while shooting 50 percent from the field.

Doncic leads the league with a usage percentage of 39.3 percent, which is an uptick from his already-high 36.8 usage percentage last season. Everyone knew Doncic was likely going to have to do more with Jalen Brunson leaving over the offseason, especially since the Mavs didn’t add a suitable third ballhandler into the mix … but if he’s having to exert this much energy at the start of the season with a 1-2 record to show for it, that’s cause for concern even though it’s early.

Doncic is a tough player, but everyone has their limits. That’s just human nature. Hopefully, the Mavs can find a balance between lessening his load as the season progresses while also finding a way to string together wins at the same time. That balance might have to be found through a trade at some point.

Green Not Living Up to Training Camp Hype

As big believers in Josh Green’s potential as a third-year prospect, we have to admit that his early-season performances have been underwhelming, especially on the offensive end. Green has always been capable of making an impact on defense, but after working extremely hard on his ball-handling and shooting over the offseason, this was supposed to be his breakout year. So far, that has fallen flat.

In 14 minutes against the Pelicans, Green tallied just two points on two shots to go along with two rebounds. Some consider this a make-or-break season for Green, and he’ll need to pick it up if he wants to remain in a Mavericks uniform past February.

Dinwiddie Pulling His Weight Offensively; Finney-Smith, Bullock Need to Pick It Up 

The Mavs might need to find a third ballhandler, but Dinwiddie is doing his part as the second one in the pecking order. He put up 24 points and five assists while shooting 8-15 from the field in New Orleans. On the season, he’s averaging 18 points and 3.3 assists on 53/50/80 shooting splits.

After averaging a career-high 11 points per game last season on 39.5 percent from deep, Dorian Finney-Smith has started this season averaging just 5.3 points per game while shooting 25 percent from deep. He and Reggie Bullock played 35 minutes apiece on Tuesday night and combined to shoot 3-13 from the field and 1-8 from deep.

We are confident that those two will eventually get things rolling on a more consistent basis, but until they do, the Mavs offense will go through some painful droughts if Doncic and Wood aren’t doing it all.

Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for pregame and postgame coverage of the Mavs’ Thursday night matchup against the star-studded Nets.

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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.

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