INDIANAPOLIS – First and foremost, the Mavericks want to extend their seven-game winning streak and improve on their sixth-place standing in the West.
These goals, while not necessarily mutually exclusive, will not be easy to achieve during this rugged four-game road trip, which includes games against the Eastern Conference's first, second and sixth place teams. .
But trade acquisitions P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford have settled into the rotation during this week's road trip, which begins Sunday afternoon with a 32-25 matchup against Indiana and its very familiar coach, Rick Carlisle. It will be interesting to watch how Dallas' lineup changes subtly as they go along.
“The important thing is to win,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of the trip and the final 26 games of the regular season. “But we have to play our best basketball heading into April. That's the goal.”
Part of that adjustment began Saturday, when the Mavericks practiced in Dallas before flying to Indianapolis.
Guard Dante Exum practiced in full without restrictions for the first time since late December. It was the first time the entire Mavericks team practiced together since early November, with the exception of G League players Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Greg Brown.
Exum has missed 20 of the past 22 games due to several injuries to his right leg, most recently knee bursitis. Kidd said Exum will not play against Indiana, but barring pain, he is scheduled to practice Monday in Cleveland and play Tuesday against the 36-19 Cavs.
Kidd named Exum his starter until he was sidelined with a heel contusion in early January. On Saturday, Exum practiced with the second team.
During part of Saturday's scrimmage, Kidd split up the backcourt of stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, allowing each to run the team, and the coaching staff's commitment to having at least one on the court at all times. Achieved game rotation goal.
and . . .
Kidd said he knew his opponent was “going to try to take Luka or Kai,” but “I've been preparing to get my other players ready to attack.”
Obviously, the addition of Gafford gives Dallas a formidable one-two punch of centers along with rookie Derek Lively II, but the Mavericks' coaching and analysis staff are unsure which player combinations will work for each player. You need to decide which one is most suitable for your center.
It's an enviable process, and it puts the pieces of the puzzle into place for a 33-23 team that has outscored its opponents by an average of 16.8 points during its seven-game winning streak and has had a minimum margin of victory of eight points.
While most coaches for playoff-contending teams are starting to reduce their rotations to eight or nine players, Kidd said Dallas' team will be down to 10 players during this trip.
“I think I was about 11 years old,” he said.
The winning streak is tied for the franchise's longest since the 2010-11 championship season, when Dallas had winning streaks of eight, 10 and 12 games.
Several national media analysts, who had largely ignored the Mavericks even during All-Star Week here in Indianapolis just last week, have woken up to the reality that Dallas has the makings of an elite team. After Saturday's practice, guard Josh Green was asked if Dallas had flown under the radar.
“When I'm at home, I play FIFA.” ,” he said. “I don't really pay attention to the media or anything like that.
“But at the end of the day, I think it's crazy to have two players as talented as Luka and Kyrie.” [and not get noticed]. Yeah, we may be underrated, but I think everyone is okay with being underrated. It's fun to be the underdog. ”
After Tuesday's game against Cleveland, followed by back-to-back games against Toronto, 21-36, on Wednesday, and concluding with Boston, 44-12, on Friday, the trip will gauge where the new Mavericks stand among the NBA's best teams. It will be a measure.
But Kidd sees this as a preview of what's to come in April and an opportunity to experiment.
“I think you can see the energy from the players. They enjoy playing for each other,” he said. “Nobody's complaining about the shot. If someone gets open, someone takes it. Then we go back and figure out our defensive rotations. It's fun to watch.”
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