The Dallas Mavericks (34-27) are riding the best record of the season, riding a seven-game winning streak that might have been on par with last year at this point, but they've lost just four of their last five games since Sunday. has left a record of. They lost 120-116 to the Philadelphia 76ers. Dallas desperately needs a win as the Mavs take on the Indiana Pacers (34-28) on Tuesday at American Airlines Center. Just 11 days ago, it was the Pacers who handed the Mavs their first of four losses in their current rough patch, 133-111.
Here are three recent trends to keep an eye on as the Mavericks host the Pacers on Tuesday, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 CST.
Turnovers and missed shots
In Dallas' last four losses, one of two things generally happened. The Mavs either turned the ball over more than usual or made 3-pointers for too long at a time. This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now. Ahead of Tuesday's matchup, the Pacers remain second in the NBA in offensive rating (120.1) behind the Boston Celtics (121.7). The Mavs currently rank 7th at 117.6.
The Mavs committed 15 turnovers in their last game against Indiana and committed 17 more in their most recent loss to Philadelphia. For a team like the Mavericks this year, who have averaged just 12 turnovers per game (seventh in the NBA), that's quite a departure from average. In fact, in three of the last five games in which the Mavs have turned the ball over at least 14 times, Luka Doncic has committed 15 of the team's 46 total turnovers.
But in the game against the Celtics, turnovers weren't the culprit. His shooting from deep (9-of-34, 26.5%) on a cold night was a contributing factor to Boston's late-game disaster. Both the Boston loss and the loss five games ago at Indiana looked like winnable games for three quarters until Dallas clawed back in the fourth.
I mean, it's not the same every night, but carelessness and inconsistency are rearing their ugly heads right now.
Pacers unique mini slide
Since defeating the Mavs on February 25th, the Pacers have won just one of their last three games, with recent losses to the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs.
The loss to the Raptors came on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Mavericks, and on a night when Scottie Barnes recorded his fourth triple-double of the season and RJ Barrett scored a team-high 24 points. .
On the night the Pacers recently lost to the Spurs, breakout point guard Tyrese Haliburton had a terrible game with just 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting and eight assists. Meanwhile, rookie sensation Victor Wembaneyama dazzled the Pacers in Sunday's game with 31 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and six blocked shots.
As such, both the Pacers and Mavs have been a bit uneven in recent games as the regular season is starting to drag on a bit with incomplete rosters across the league. It looks like a determined team, and perhaps a more desperate one, will be the ones to break out of the rut in the AAC on Tuesday.
Uncertainty surrounding Daniel Gafford
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There was some uncertainty over Daniel Gafford's role with the team, after averaging 15 points and 12 rebounds in the first three games against Dallas.
Gafford has only played a combined 26 minutes in the team's last three losses, against Cleveland, Boston and at home against Philadelphia (25 minutes in the win over Toronto). There seem to be at least a few different schools of thought about what's going on here. How much of Gafford's playing time depends on the matchup, in that so many Mavs fans avoid using him against stretch-big teams or opponents who are skilled enough as a ball handler who can use multiple dribbles. did not understand. Or if you're at another school, Jason Kidd commits coaching violations almost every night. (To be clear, without conflating his response to Gafford's minutes with all the other ways in which you perceive Kidd to have committed coaching violations, here Could belong to both schools (atrocities have been committed, no I doubt this is one).
Gafford played 19 minutes, scored eight points, and grabbed five boards in the Mavs' first loss at Indiana, but Maxi Kleber played more minutes than Gafford or Derek Lively II. (25 points). This was one of Lively's first matches after his return. He broke his nose in the game against Orlando and his beak was surgically repaired. Myles Turner led all of Dallas' big teams that night with a season-high 33 points and eight boards.
Gafford's playing time, his efficiency, and any plans to slow Turner down this time around are all worth watching Tuesday as the Mavs look to rebuild with 21 games left in the regular season.
