For most of the 2023-24 season, the best predictor of whether the Dallas Mavericks would win that night was making 15 3-pointers. Shooting better than your opponent every night was your ticket to winning the game, and sometimes the only ticket to winning the game. As a result, Dallas felt like a team with at most one round of playoff life.
However, in the last 10 games, the team's defense has been the focus. This is not a new fact. The fan base has celebrated defensive additions to some degree since adding Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington at the trade deadline, and even more so since returning from the All-Star break. Three-point shooting hasn't just taken a backseat during stretches of advanced play for the Mavs, they've actually fallen into something of a cold snap while winning nine of their last 10 games and 16 of their past 22. was.
But as Dallas battles the Sacramento Kings for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoff race, it will take both pieces of the puzzle for Dallas to take the next step and get through the two most important games of the year. It is necessary to combine them. Sacramento can score with anyone in the league, so it was never enough to hope that another solid defensive performance, combined with an even 31 percent shooting percentage from 3-pointers, would take down the Kings with the Golden 1 center. .
It all came together in the third quarter of Dallas' 132-96 win on Tuesday. After gradually winning in the first and second quarters, the Mavs defeated the Kings 38-23 in the third quarter, continuing their defensive mission while finally allowing Dallas to show off in the first 50 games of the year. Combined with Tao's deadly shooting touch. .
The Kings got nothing in transition all night. They didn't score any points in transition until Malik Monk made an alley-oop off Davion Mitchell with 3:38 left in the third quarter, but by then the Mavs had already completed a 22-4 run in the frame to make it 89. It was up to the point. -65.
Dallas put together its run by ultimately combining its newfound defensive pressure with the pure shooting the team has become known for. In the third, they made 6 of 9 3-pointers, but Sacramento only made 1 of 6.
“We're getting better and better defensively,” Luka Doncic said in a postgame interview on TNT after a tense third-quarter shot turned into a laugh by the end. “We have players who can really defend. The whole team is listening and talking to each other when defending. We have to continue like this.”
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Meanwhile, Doncic got into the passing lanes and recorded three more steals, finishing with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists in the fourth quarter, giving the Mavs plenty of room as they have two full days of rest before returning to Sactown. I took a break. on friday. He bounced back from a 2-of-11 performance from behind the arc in Monday's 115-105 win over the Utah Jazz, making 4-of-8 from deep for Sacramento. Not bad for a player who reportedly made in-game decisions while dealing with Achilles tendon pain.
Tuesday's nationally televised win over the Kings may not have been the Mavs' best defensive performance of the year, but it was at least one of their best. They bothered De'Aaron Fox all night, but by the end of the night the NBA's ninth-leading scorer was watching an abysmal shooting line, going 6-of-18. Domantas Sabonis, one of the most offensively talented players in the league, missed a few bunny shots and hit only 3-of-10 shots against Dallas. Malik Monk was just 5-of-13 from the field and 0-of-2 from 3-point range.
For the Mavs, it was the game Washington and Tim Hardaway Jr. needed this stretch run to bounce back and get back in the right position. Although they struggled offensively, they made 8 of 12 from 3-point range to get the win. Dallas was dazzled all night, making 22-of-39 shots from beyond the arc as a team. That's his 56.4 percent, his best 3-point shooting percentage this team has shot all year.
Sure, the Kings and their fans may view this loss as a waste, but it's true that they have a chance to make everything right on Friday and clinch the season series with a win. But no team in the league will be more confident going into Friday's game than your little Dallas Mavericks.
Hopefully that front-running attitude works as well for the Mavs on Friday as it did on Tuesday.
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