Yahoo Sports Senior NBA Writer jake fisher and Dan Devine Let's talk about the ups and downs of the Dallas Mavericks. The No. 8 seed in the West is on a four-game winning streak, but with star Luka Doncic not doing well, it's as likely that they'll start to slow down in four games as much as they can stay on track. His hamstring and defense have a lot of room for improvement. Listen to the entire conversation on “No Cap Room,” part of the “Ball Don't Lie” podcast, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like.
video transcript
Jake Fisher: We're checking out the Dallas Mavericks vibe. Poor defense. The atmosphere is bad. Local radio has begun begging the Dallas Mavericks to fire Jason Kidd in favor of Budenholzer, the hottest microphone on this summer's coaching merry-go-round.
They were blown off the floor by the Pacers, prompting Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News to report on a players-only meeting backed by Markieff Morris among others. Luka had a quote about the fact that Keefe was helping him. And he's the voice in the locker room.
And now they are 4 and 0 since then. Don't miss Daniel Gafford either. He's comparable to Wilt Chamberlain, something only Joel Embiid has really accomplished, and Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembaneyama have also battled in the last minute. So I don't know.
After the early returns were pretty, pretty poor, people like me were criticizing the first round pick, and part of Daniel Gafford, and the top two protected picks in P.J. Washington, but I mean , I think it's pretty obvious that if this was top 2 protection it would have been pretty much unprotected, but it was a bit nifty for me as draft compensation. But they are about to turn a corner. Or is it? Or is it?
Dan Devine: This is my conclusion about the Dallas Mavericks after several days of watching, reading, studying, and researching about them.I don't know what is what [BLEEP] About the Dallas Mavericks. Everything goes well and it starts. A winning streak here, a losing streak here, a winning streak there.
They've been a good team all season, for better or for worse. The more relevant version of that is what they've done since the trade deadline, as you mentioned, bringing in Daniel Gafford, bringing in PJ Washington. And they — they won a few games before the deadline, won their first five games after the deadline, lost five of the next six, and now they've won four straight.
They beat the Bulls and have won four in a row. They got the job done Wednesday night against a Warriors team without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, but it was basically a draw offensively. And they beat the Pistons.
In other words, it wasn't necessarily world-beating plays during this period. But you have to deal with it correctly. And they got it right. They have stabilized quite a bit. They currently have 10 games over .500, but I think they've probably only done that once or twice so far this season.
They are in 8th place in the West and have only played half of their six games. That way, I think it's a game and a half out of five. It feels like it's still firmly stuck there. And they'll have stretches where you like and anyone will score with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. And the pieces fit a little more neatly.
As always, the problem is defense. So, let's look at that winning streak, seven consecutive wins. They were giving up about 105 points per 100 possessions. They lose five out of six. Something like 125. They are his fourth straight win. It's like 106, 107. As much as they protect, so does the team.
And the question will always be, what can the really strong competitors do? Because they are a team that has been beating bad teams all season long. And there's no shame in that. Just like we need to win those games to be in a position to compete later in the season.
But if I told you that Luka and Kyrie screwing up led to them defeating the favorites in the first round of the series, I would totally believe you. And if you told me that he got hit in five rounds because his nose wouldn't stop bleeding, I'd believe it too.
