NBA Playoffs Prep: Dallas Mavs Improving at Guarding 5-Out Offense

The Mavs have transformed into an elite defense ahead of the playoffs. They've used recent games to better prepare for potential postseason style and matchups.

Apr 5, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) reacts during the / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI — When building around Luka Doncic, having an electrifying offense that rises to the occasion has been the calling card for the Dallas Mavericks. A lack of defensive execution as a unit limited the ultimate potential. The Mavs advanced past the first round with Doncic for the first time in 2022-23 when they reached the Western Conference Finals behind a versatile, top-10 defense.

After Jalen Brunson departed for the New York Knicks, filling the co-star void next to Doncic was an apparent priority. The Mavs have profoundly achieved that by trading for Kyrie Irving and being patient enough for the tandem to build an extraordinary offense. The next step? Build at least an average defense.

Apr 5, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) reacts during the / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavs have been a highly impactful defense since trading for P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, ranking seventh in defensive rating (110.5) since their debuts on February 10. Both players added length and athleticism at their respective positions while solidifying the depth the team had to turn to throughout a 48-minute effort. They're also better equipped to handle injuries as they are not skipping a beat without Dereck Lively II and Josh Green. Dallas has gone 15-2 since those adjustments while producing a league-best 106.3 defensive rating — the best in the NBA during that span.

"I think we can guard one through five," Doncic said. "We can switch, and we can have Gafford and Lively down there, so they help us."

There was a potentially informative stretch within that larger sample when the Mavs executed as the worst defense in the NBA, beginning with a four-game Eastern Conference road trip that included losses against the Indiana Pacers (133 points allowed) and Boston Celtics (138 points allowed). The shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers then scored 120 points to narrowly defeat the Mavs in Dallas, with a rematch against the Pacers featuring even worse defensive results with Indiana scoring 137 the second time around. During this six-game sample size, the Mavs had a 127.3 defensive rating, which not only ranked 30th but was the wost by a massive 5.1 margin.

One challenge magnified by that poor defensive stretch from the Mavs was an inability to contain five-out offense against teams with a shooting center, like the Pacers with Myles Turner and Kristaps Porzingis with the Celtics. After the second loss against the Pacers, Dallas changed the lineup by inserting Derrick Jones Jr. and Gafford as starters instead of Green and Lively. After the Celtics loss, Kidd noted that Maxi Kleber closed the game since Lively and Gafford struggled to guard the perimeter.

"Yeah, just understanding that they have struggled against playing small," Kidd said after the loss in Boston. "If your bigs cannot guard the perimeter, it will be a shootaround for them. So we felt comfortable going small."

The Mavs have faced different teams recently that have afforded them the opportunities to deploy different ball screen coverages that could ultimately prove helpful in the postseason. While a team like the Houston Rockets still has a shooting liability to sag off of and pre-rotate against like Amen Thompson, the Mavs have received a few chances to gain game reps against small ball personnel trying to play a spread style. Gafford has spent more time handling shifty guards in space, while the Mavs' smalls have been handling bigger players. On Tuesday, the latest opportunity came against the Charlotte Hornets, deploying Grant Williams at the five for much of the game.

"I thought we did really well in the first half with the five out. We went to something, um, that we tend to go in the second half. We just switched everything. And I thought, uh, to see how [Gafford] can handle guarding the point guards and our smalls handling the bigs. I thought the guys did an incredible job there in the first half. Again, we have to get better to be consistent. But, again, the five-out defense was really good tonight."

Gafford has provided a major boost to the Mavs' interior capabilities as a shot blocker and rebounder, but he acknowledged in Charlotte that if he cannot guard the perimeter, he understands why the Mavs would need to get someone else in there. He's emphasized improvement in guarding the perimeter and feels his performance against the Hornets was a great step for him in the development process.

"We did go one through five from the jump," Gafford said. "I want to be a better defender in general. And it's just another step that in my playing style, that's going to help me defensively is just being able to come out and move my feet around the perimeter. So at the end of the day, I just want to be able to take that challenge and just come out and just help the team as much as I can. If I don't, I'm pretty sure I understand when it comes to just like getting guys in to really just uphold, just like the one through five defensive, I say scheme, I would say when it comes to just like how we want to play defensively, but tonight I feel like that I actually took a step in the right direction."

An approach the Mavs have tested lately is to have Doncic begin by guarding the primary scorer with a more switching-focused approach. Dallas had often deployed drop coverage with Lively throughout his rookie season as he gets acclimated to the NBA with some usage of Veer switching and blitzes. At first, Gafford was more so limited to drop coverage after his trade arrival with the need to deploy Maxi Kleber at the five to switch. Dallas has emphasized switching more with Gafford and having him dial up different defensive coverages by playing closer to the level of screens depending on the matchup. Having a progression to turn to schematically will help make the Mavs harder to pick apart in the playoffs when it becomes a chess match.

"I think to be able to change, throw different pitches as we go into the playoffs is going to be key because you're playing against elite teams with elite players and you can't just be consistent, just ready because they'll start to pick you apart," Kidd said. "So just to be able to throw different pitches, different matchups, I think we've been able to do that here of late, especially in that Houston game, putting Luka on a primary scorer and being able to work the defense around him. And in that case, tonight, being able to Red [switch], we normally don't just come out and Red everything. I thought the guys did a really good job with that.

"We can continue to build, watch film, and our walkthroughs are our practices right now," Kidd explained. "So just being able to go through different scenarios as we get ready for our opponent."

As the Mavs' defensive anchor, Gafford highlighted the improvement in the team's communication as helping them handle different offensive styles and achieve favorable results when implementing different defensive approaches. While they did have that tough stretch against teams with a lot of shooting threats in five-out schemes, he emphasized how the team worked through it to handle adversity as they achieve improvement in the X's & O's aspects.

"As you see it, we're out there communicating more, we're there for each other more," Gafford said. "Whenever we get frustrated on defense, it doesn't really matter. It's just like, okay, help the next guy. Push the next guy at the end of the day, we're going to play as a team. We're not going to get too frustrated to where it's like we're taking, so we took a step back to when we were losing. When I first got here, it was a lot of frustration at times, a lot of adversity, a lot of obstacles and we found a way to get over that as a team. So I feel like we for sure have progressed and excelled in the right direction that we want to go defensively in that area."

Part of what makes the Mavs capable of executing different schemes is the athleticism and length they've added on the wing. Dante Exum is a big guard who can pick up full-court and use length to speed up a matchup. Derrick Jones Jr. does the same on the wing, even if he has to chase a player like Stephen Curry, or try to contain Kevin Durant. Washington has provided another on-ball defensive option with size while reinforcing the team's off-ball defense due to his ability to serve as a big when needed.

"It's very important to have length and that athleticism. And when you talk about those three [Jones, Washington, and Exum], that helps us," Kidd said. "You can see the guys are having fun playing defense, and when guys are having fun playing defense, you have a chance."

Washington has continued to make a strong defensive impact for the Mavs amidst the team's defensive resurgence. No lineup with at least 100 minutes played since the NBA All-Star break has a better defensive rating than the starting five for Dallas, and Washington's versatility on the wing has played an important role. With a 98.3 defensive rating, they are the only five-man pairing that is even below the 103.0 threshold.

"For me, it's just being able to make an impact defensively and change the game in that way," Washington said. "I feel like I've done pretty well in that area, whether it's guarding the ball, guarding bigs, or guarding wings as well. So, I'm just trying to be versatile on that end."

Washington's defensive abilities extend beyond direct guarding. Utilizing his long reach and athleticism, he has become an essential off-ball defender for the Mavs. His impressive wingspan of 7'2.5" enables him to effectively challenge shots at the basket from the weak side, strip the ball during drives, and create disturbances through timely rotations. Possessing physical attributes that Williams did not, Washington often disrupts the opposition's plays as the primary help defender down low.

"I think [off-ball defensive] is just as important as it is on the ball because a lot of the passes in the league are off the ball, so just being aware and making sure your man's not cutting back door," Washington said. "Just trying to always be the help and make sure I'm talking and being aware on that side from my front."

While the rim protector is an essential part of a defense from a communication standpoint, the four spot tends to be vital as well as the low defender. Washington appreciates how the Mavs have managed to deploy more defensive schemes to unlock their versatility as a group, which has come with more time together.

"I think it's great that we're able to [use difference schemes] because we have so many guys that have length and long wingspan," Washington said. "Just being able to switch them no matter who we're playing is great. For us, obviously going into the playoffs, being able to match up versus different guys is going to be tough, so just excitement that we're gelling together at the right time and just excited to be here."

The Mavs enter Wednesday's matchup against the Miami Heat on the second night of a back-to-back with the chance to build on recent momentum. There are only three total regular season games remaining and based on how the Western Conference standings unfold, not all of them may be meaningful. Regardless, Dallas will have practice time to utilize as a top six team that avoided the play-in tournament before beginning the first round of the playoffs.