Dallas Basketball

Former Mavs Coach Avery Johnson Thinks Mavs Are "Sneaky" Title Contenders

Former Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Avery Johnson Had Some Interesting Thoughts About His Former Team This Week, Naming Them As A Team That Could Potentially "Sneak" Into The Finals During An Interview With CBS Sports.

Matt Galatzan

DALLAS - Avery Johnson knows basketball about as well as anyone, as evidence by his success with the Dallas Mavericks in 2006 and 2007, as well as his impressive coaching resume. 

More interestingly though, were Johnson's comments about his former team during an interview with CBS Sports' Amanda Guerra on Monday, not just citing the Mavericks as the team he is most interested to watch, but also naming them as a club that could potentially sneak into the Finals. 

"I'm really interested and looking forward to seeing the Dallas Mavericks," Johnson said in the interview. "Outside of LeBron James, they have a guy in Luka Doncic who is just walking triple-double, you know he averages 28 points, nine rebounds, and eight and a half assists, and he's just so much fun to watch. He's going to be in the playoffs for the first time in his career. And then with Kristaps Porzingis, whose the Robin to the Batman in Luka Doncic, there's of the best one-two punches in all of basketball."

To Johnson's credit, while the NBA is now flooded with a slew of two-star teams, most notably including the Lakers, Clippers, Rockets, 76ers, Celtics, and (the very soon to be star duo of) the Brooklyn Nets, the Mavericks duo has shown an exceptional chemistry growth in a relatively short amount of playtime together. 

This, along with their youth, unpredictability, and rather unique skill sets, makes them a very dangerous team when the NBA returns at the end of July. 

"If you put those guys in a seven games series, they're a team that can potentially sneak into the finals," Johnson said. "So, when you look at a team like the Mavericks when Luka Doncic is at point guard, and now Tim Hardaway Jr. is at two-guard, who's a prolific three-point shooter, they're very hard to guard. And when you have that pick and roll combination with Porzinigs and Luka Doncic, it's hard to game plan for, especially in a seven-game series."

Also, as Johnson notes, the added dimension of Tim Hardaway Jr., as well as the other weapons surrounding the Mavs star duo, such as Seth Curry and defensive aces like Delon Wright, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Maxi Kleber, make Dallas one of the most dynamic and interesting teams participating in Orlando. 

The Dallasbasketball.com staff went into further detail on this subject in our weekly podcast, The Mavs Step Back Podcast, on Monday, and you can listen to that discussion here.

Dallas opens up the resumed season on July 31st against the Houston Rockets at The Arena At Walt Disney World on July 31st at 8 PM CT on ESPN and will head into the game as 1.5-point underdogs.

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com. He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration.  Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network.  When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later.  Through the years, Galatzan 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, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered.  Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan. For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com

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