Can Doncic, Mavs Avoid Slow Start to Season?

The Dallas Mavericks have been playing from behind over the last two seasons. That needs to change this year.

After going through a three-year postseason drought at the end of Dirk Nowitzki’s career, the Dallas Mavericks have made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. They’ve taken small steps forward in Western Conference standings in that timeframe as well, finishing seventh in 2019-20, fifth in 2020-21 and fourth (with home-court advantage for the first time in 11 years) in 2021-22.

Although the Mavs have improved over the last two seasons — especially last season, where they marched all the way to the Western Conference Finals before being knocked off by a more experienced Golden State Warriors team — they could’ve been even better had it not been for poor starts to the season.

For a variety of reasons, including Luka Doncic’s conditioning, injuries, the NBA’s COVID protocols, and implementing a new coaching system (with Jason Kidd last year), the Mavs have been under .500 by the 25-game mark over the last two seasons. 

Surprisingly, having to play from behind in the second half of last season didn’t affect the Mavs much. However, with a lack of secondary playmaking due to Jalen Brunson’s free agency departure, Dallas needs to make sure it gets off to a fast start this time around if it wants to solidify its place among the West’s elite.

As for Doncic, he appears to be in arguably the best shape of his NBA career from what we’ve seen with his international play this summer. If that carries over into training camp and preseason, the Mavs should be in good shape, despite having to get newcomers Christian Wood, JaVale McGee and Jaden Hardy up to speed.

With Kidd’s coaching strategies already being implemented, it wouldn’t be a shock if we see Doncic and rest of the guys who were a part of last year’s roster get off to a smoother start.

Injuries are obviously something a team can’t predict, so if he Mavs will keep their fingers crossed and hope they don’t have to deal with anything significant in that department this season. As many nagging ankle injuries as Doncic has had over the last few years, perhaps he can have a mostly clean bill of health this time around. When Doncic is healthy, the Mavs can beat any opponent on any given night.

Getting off to a slow start isn’t a death sentence for the season, as we’ve seen firsthand many times, but playing from behind will catch up to you at some point. If the Mavs want to keep climbing in a Western Conference that’s going to be even stronger, they must do whatever it takes to win early and often.

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You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg

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