Mavs' Preseason Win Over Jazz: 4 Big Observations

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz in their preseason finale. Here are some observations from the performance.

The Dallas Mavericks concluded their 2022 preseason schedule with a 115-101 win over the Utah Jazz on Friday. 

It was a tightly contested matchup for much of the game. Neither team led by more than five points until the Mavs briefly did late in the third quarter. It wasn't until the fourth quarter that Dallas ultimately pulled away to run away with the game.  

In terms of workload, the plan was for the Mavs to play much of their rotation for 3-to-3.5 quarters to leave the final six minutes for the reserves. They stuck to that in order to give McKinley Wright IV a chance to lead the unit to monitor how he handled game clock situations. 

Here are some key takeaways from the Mavs' preseason win over the Jazz. 

4. Spencer Dinwiddie Must Be Aggressive

With the Mavs no longer having Jalen Brunson to "co-pilot" the backcourt with Doncic, they need a lot more from Spencer Dinwiddie. Brunson's aggressive paint game was a valuable asset. Right now, they have a timid backcourt partner. 

Dinwiddie finished with nine assists, but overall, he scored only three points while shooting 1-8 (12.5 percent) from the floor and 1-5 (20.0 percent) from 3-point range. He only took three shot attempts from inside the arc and didn't get to the free throw line once. 

For the Mavs to not be so reliant on 3-point shooting execution and general creation from Doncic, they need an aggressive scorer in the backcourt. They essentially have two 3-and-D wings and a lob threat outside of Doncic. That means the rest comes from the backcourt partner, and so far, Dinwiddie has appeared timid. 

A lack of aggression from Dinwiddie has remained an issue even when the Mavs have tested plug-and-play lineup combinations. In his career, he's been an aggressive downhill player who is a magnet for getting to the free throw line. That hasn't shown in the preseason. 

3. Bench Unit Showed Resolve

The Mavs struggled to convert perimeter jumpers and weren't getting the job done often defensively before the start of the fourth quarter. The bench group turned things up with a 17-4 run early in that final period to establish a double-figure lead.

Tim Hardaway Jr. played an instrumental role in setting the tone for the Mavs' bench late. He scored 9 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, with all of his points coming from three makes from beyond the arc. The team shot 7-11 (63.6 percent) from deep in the final period after going just 10-35 (28.6 percent) through three quarters. 

“I thought Timmy did a great job,” Kidd said. “There was a group out there that went on a 17-4 run. We had great looks in the first half, wide-open looks that we just missed. If Luka and Spencer are going to create those open shots, then we got to knock them down.”

There will be nights when Hardaway Jr. isn't converting from deep since all shooters go through ups and downs. Regardless, it's clear that his aggressive scoring mentality will be instrumental for the bench unit as his motion shooting adds layers to the offense. 

Overall, the bench group still has work to do, and that's expected considering it's only the preseason. However, a group that features Wood and Hardaway Jr. has a lot of options offensively, and if Dinwiddie can be more aggressive in plug-and-play units, it'll only be further enhanced.

2. Potential Offensive Limitations on Display

One of the limitations the Mavs faced in their play style during their Western Conference Finals run was a heavy reliance on jump-shooting execution. They were hot in the initial two rounds from deep but struggled to convert against the Golden State Warriors. 

As previously mentioned, the Mavs struggled to convert beyond the arc before the fourth quarter. Dallas shot just 6-24 (25.0 percent) on 3s in the opening half, with two of those making off-the-dribble makes from Doncic in part of a 2-6 (33.3 percent) shooting half from the superstar. 

Doncic went cold from the perimeter in the third quarter missing his three attempts while the rest of the team was 4-9 (44.4 percent), with Christian Wood and Dorian Finney-Smith each knocking down a pair of 3s. Things didn't click at the same time for the Mavs. 

“We got to see some different combinations, a lot of good stuff,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We talked at halftime that we got to do a better job of protecting the paint and the rim. In the second half, we started to play the way we’re capable. We said if we’re going to shoot 50 threes a game, we’re going to have to make some. You can’t just be a jump-shooting team like that. If you don’t make any, you’re going to find yourself on the other side of the (win-loss) column.”

The Mavs are a daunting team to try to contain when their shots fall at a higher clip. There has to be more to their attack than relying on Doncic doing it all off the bounce and hoping that role players make catch-and-shoot jumpers. 

Another issue the Mavs faced was underwhelming free throw shooting execution, as they finished 22-33 (66.7 percent) overall. Doncic and Wood are two of the team's top options, and they each have struggled to be consistent in this area in their careers. Doncic, Wood, and Hardaway Jr. combined to shoot 16-24 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line. 

Free throw shooting wasn't a problem in the third quarter, while the team was otherwise struggling offensively. However, poor 3-point shooting and going 62.5 percent on free throws in the opening half prevented the Mavs from separating early. 

1. Defensive Execution Needs Work

The Mavs are counting on their offseason additions of Christian Wood and JaVale McGee to bring a level of rebounding and rim protection that wasn't present during their playoff run. Simply throwing them into the mix won't be a quick fix.

The Mavs allowed the Jazz to score 64 points in the paint and haul 12 offensive rebounds leading to 20 second-chance points. Utah managed to attempt 11 putbacks alone. Quite a few of those resulted from a perimeter player's ball-watching and failing to get a body on a player like Lauri Markkanen crashing the glass.

“We weren’t a good rebounding team last year,” Kidd said. “We got to do better. Everyone in that room knows that. We’re getting teams to miss. We just got to finish the play.”

Rebounding and interior defense doesn't come down to simply having a big man that cleans everything up. It takes a focused, collective effort to handle communication and boxing out to contain the opposition properly. It also takes quality screen navigation and on-ball containment at the point of attack. However, their frontcourt rotation hasn't offered a significant paint protection presence either.

Much of the Mavs' practice time in training camp has been spent on fine-tuning defensive execution. There are plenty of things to clean up before their regular season opener next week. 

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