Mavs Monday Donuts: Brunson and Co. Step Up - And Into a Soft Schedule? - After A Luka Injury

Luka's hurt again, but a soft Dallas Mavs schedule could ease some pressure during his absence.

The Super Bowl (starring Luka Doncic pal Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs) is behind us. What's ahead? Luka's hurt again, but a soft Dallas Mavericks schedule could ease some pressure during his absence.

DONUT 1: Mavericks 123, Hawks 100

Injuries haven’t been kind to either of these teams this year. Both the Atlanta Hawks and the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday rolled out their 19th starting lineups of the season on the same night (fourth most in the NBA this year). The Mavericks were without Luka Dončić, Kristaps Porzingis, and of course Dwight Powell. By the end of the game, the Mavericks would add Seth Curry to the list of banged-up Mavericks.

The Hawks were already without De’Andre Hunter and Bruno Fernando, so things got even thinner for the 13-win Hawks when Cam Reddish left in the first quarter with a contusion and feared concussion. By the time Trae Young went out with a tweaked ankle, the Mavericks were up by more than 20 points, so it was likely a precaution (Young tried to return, but was vetoed). The injury should luckily only be day-to-day. 

Still, for a team with so little margin of error, the Hawks were put in a pretty tough situation against a deep and versatile Mavericks team.

Read Dalton's full game story here.

DONUT 2: Another Luka Ankle Injury

In the grand scheme of things, let’s call this one a win. Luka will miss a few games with an injury that’s very similar to the one he suffered against the Miami Heat. That it happened in practice while playing one-on-one with a teammate, makes it seem more frustrating, but it’s not. With the frequency Luka drives to the basket, he’s bound to step on some feet, or a patch of sweat, and roll his ankle a few more times in his career.

Maybe Luka should spend some time with Dirk, who was known for a turned ankle or two in his day. Dirk got to the point where he would roll his ankle and then just keep on going. Not sure if that’s pure willpower or some pre-game preparation that helped his elasticity, but Dirk needs to share his secrets. Luka could also get on the phone with Seth’s brother in Golden State, and figure out how he moved on from a series of frustrating lower-body injuries to win back-to-back MVPs.

The bright side of this whole thing is that it’s not a season-ending injury, and a little extra rest might help Luka regain his focus - and his stamina - for the post-All-Star stretch of the season. (And for that matter, for the All-Star Game itself.)

DONUT 3: Dorian Finney-Smith Keeps Improving

Early in the season, I wrote that Dorian Finney-Smith could unlock a whole new level of his game if he just became a more consistent three-point threat. This included a call for more confidence when he gets a wide-open look.

That new level has arrived.

Going into play against the Hawks, Finney-Smith had seen the third-largest increase in three-point percentage from last season to this season. After a 4-of-7 night against the Hawks, he became the most improved three-point shooter in the NBA this year (this could change by the end of today, but it’s still worth a tip of the hat this morning). Dorian’s incredibly confident step-back three at the end of the first half was the wax seal on months of improvement.

The fact is, Dorian is way more than just a three-and-D guy. It’s great that he’s rounded into both halves of that role, but he’s also made a name for himself as a timely rebounder, especially on the offensive end of the glass (a big part of Dallas’ 14.9 second-chance points per game). If this is the leap we get after three years of development, Dorian Finney-Smith might still have another gear or two before he hits his prime.

DONUT 4: Porzingis Goes Off

I know the Mavericks didn’t get the win in Houston on Friday night, but I’m encouraged by what we saw from Kristaps Porzingis. He absolutely feasted on Houston’s small lineup to the tune of 12-of-20 shooting, 10-of-13 from the line, 35 points, and 12 rebounds. Even more encouraging was the 36 minutes he stayed on the floor.

It’s tough to overcome Houston at home when Westbrook and Harden both score 30 points apiece. Even tougher to do that without Luka on the floor. Still, Porzingis was a big part of what kept the Mavericks in the game right down to the final minutes, and it was an especially nice look for a team that got embarrassed by Phoenix the game before.

DONUT 5: Setback, or Precaution?

Kristaps took the night off against the Atlanta Hawks, and it was listed as a knee issue. ... but also said to simply be “load management. My guess is that he could’ve played if it were a playoff game, but the Mavericks training staff is being especially cautious with their young center. Logistically, there should be no reason to play Porzingis on the second night of a back-to-back, especially against a 13-win Hawks team.

Plus, he put in 36 hard-fought minutes against Houston on Friday night, so a little load management is not only wise but hopefully the recipe for success through the remainder of the season.

I will, of course, eat these words if KP is out against the Pacers tonight. ... and apparently we need to monitor the availability of Seth Curry (knee) tonight as well.

DONUT 6: Big Rick Energy

It took him three tries to get there, but Rick Carlisle is now the 12th coach in NBA history to reach 500 wins with the same team. A lot of that is thanks to the institutional consistency and steady hand of the Dallas Mavericks’ organization since Rick was named head coach back in 2008. Another part of that is the integrity and fortitude of Carlisle himself for sticking out the lean years in Dallas when other teams were undoubtedly courting the championship-winning coach.

Rick’s career win total is now 781 wins (a .547 winning percentage), and he’s only three wins away from Gene Shue for 16th in the all-time wins column. With a little luck, he might even reach that milestone by my next Monday column.

DONUT  7: Delon Wright has Turned a Corner

A week ago, I sang some tentative praises about Delon Wright. He’s been a consistent and versatile threat all season, but he’d struggled with decisiveness. I was excited by the improvements I’d seen over the last few days and mused that he might be ready to take the next step as a pro. The night that piece went up, he went out and got his first double-double of the season against the Thunder. In 27 minutes off the bench, Delon had 14 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Six of his rebounds were offensive rebounds that often led to second-chance points.

Against Atlanta on Saturday, he had nine points, five rebounds, seven assists, and a steal. He’ll rarely pack any one statistical category the way he did rebounds the other night, and certainly we NBA fans are spoiled by guys like Luka and Trae averaging eight or nine assists a night, but a guy who can get you five rebounds and seven assists will always be the kind of player you want on the floor.

DONUT 8: Welcome Back Jalen

I gave Jalen Brunson a pretty critical mid-season score on our DBcom Report Card but it’s too easy for me to forget that Jalen is only in his second year in the NBA. It’s actually a huge compliment to Jalen that we’ve come to expect so much from a second-year player drafted in the second-round less than 18 months ago.

He has undoubtedly progressed his game faster than Dennis Smith Jr. did in Dallas—but he has the enviable misfortune of playing on the same team as a point prodigy like Luka Dončić. The expectations are higher, and youth is harder to excuse when a 20-year-old seems to make the right choices most of the time.

Luckily, Jalen doesn’t seem to care what I think about his lapses. He’s just out there progressing at point guard faster than most and ignoring the shouts of irrational accelerated expectations that come from people like me.

Over his last 10 games, Jalen is shooting 51.9 percent from the floor, 53.3 percent from three-point range, and he’s knocking down 85.7 percent of his free-throw attempts. He’s also averaging 10.4 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in only 17.5 minutes per game. 

Against the Hawks, one of his best games as a pro, he had 27 points in 27 minutes. He added four rebounds and eight assists while making 54.5 percent of his shots.

Of course, the one caveat here is that there was no crunch-time test for Brunson against Atlanta. That’s the context we really need to see Jalen grow the most—but within the context of a guy who’s only been a pro for 17 months, Jalen has grown more than we sometimes give him credit for.

DONUT 9: The Mavericks’ Modern Offense

We’ve talked a lot about the historic efficiency of this year’s Mavericks offense. As the season evolves, there are some raw numbers that are pretty noteworthy as well. Stay tuned and later today we'll apply those numbers to our Mavs at Pacers (tonight at 6 p.m. CT tip) preview.

DONUT  10: Trade Deadline

The NBA trade deadline is on Thursday, February 6. That’s less than four days away, which means by my next column I’ll have my reactions (or overreactions) to whichever trades the Mavericks make—or don’t make—this week.

There’s a lot of debate about what the Mavericks need this season to make them real contenders. I’m not sure there’s a player out there (at least not for the right price) that does that. Still, there are several moves that the Mavericks have in their back pocket (including that Courtney Lee salary dump they’ve been keeping in their pockets).

I’ve already gone on record saying I don’t want Drummond. Let me add a second Andre to that list because I’m also not interested in a rental of Andre Iguodala. 

The guy hasn’t even bothered to show up for a Grizzlies team who currently has a playoff spot in the West, so I'm not sure he’s worth any asset the Mavericks might give up to get him for a few months.

 I also don’t believe Iggy, unless he’s at his absolute prime, could somehow take this team over the top against the Lakers or Bucks (if they got that far) in a seven-game series. 

What he could do is take away quality playoff experience from guys who WILL be here in 2020-2021.

DONUT 11: Next Up - Trying to Keep Pace

The Mavericks are within the razors’ edge of Houston in the standings. Close enough, in fact, that had they won on Friday night, the Mavericks would be the 5 seed right now instead of the sixth seed. There have been a lot of games like that recently for Dallas. Utah is two ahead of the Mavericks in the win column, but a win would have put the two teams even at worst. The Thunder are a half-game back of the Mavericks thanks only to a Dallas win last week. The margin for error is non-existent right now because the West is so competitive from 2-through-7.

Luckily for the Mavericks, especially while they’re short-handed, they face three teams under .500 over their next four games. If they can avoid the kinds of hiccup that happened against the Suns, they have a good chance to keep pace, or even gain ground.

Their toughest team over the next four games is the Indiana Pacers tonight on the road. The Pacers are 31-18 this year and the Mavericks are 30-19. Yet another opportunity for the Mavericks to directly distinguish themselves against a team just ahead of them in the standings (although, the Pacers are in the East, so it won’t directly impact their playoff positioning).

The Mavericks are down at least two players (including Luka) but should have Porzingis back in the lineup. Meanwhile, though the Pacers recently got back Victor Oladipo after a long rehab, they also lost TJ Warren to a concussion, and they're coming off an ugly 92-85 loss to the Knicks.

Every game starts to feel bigger this time of year. That’s especially true in a tight conference race. Still, this week has the chance to be a very successful one for the young Mavericks, even without Luka on the court.

Donut 12: The Final Word

@dallasmavs organization and fans thank you for a nice send off. We had some good times and I’m truly thankful for you all. @matrix31 and @swish41 it was great seeing you guys ✌🏽. pic.twitter.com/WS7yKjKOOI

— Vince Carter (@mrvincecarter15) February 2, 2020