THE The Dallas Mavericks lost for the Boston Celtics 4-1 in the NBA Finals Last season, in a series that looked like it would be an even game since Game 1, where Boston held a scorching offense to 89 points, well below Dallas’ season and playoff average. The Mavs won Game 4 by a decent margin, but otherwise were largely outplayed by a team that has so many defensive options, options that other teams simply don’t have to defend. Luka Doncic And Kyrie Irving.
The Mavericks’ offense burned the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals with a 121.0 offensive rating, the Wolves simply couldn’t do anything to slow down Dallas’ pick-and-roll performance.
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Luka Doncic has been voted Defensive Player of the Year four times Rudy Gobert He was alive the entire series, a microcosm of which was his shot over the French center to win Game 2. This dissection of what was a great regular-season defense happened for a number of reasons, most of them due to Doncic’s ability to create imbalances for the Mavericks on offense.
Gobert played in coverage with Jaden McDaniels as the primary defender on Doncic, who attacked by putting McDaniels on his back hip using his size and consistent pace. This gave him plenty of space to move around the free-throw line undisturbed.
Dallas’ lob threat around the basket kept Gobert from making plays and defending the point guard himself, giving Doncic plenty of space to shoot mid-range. Additionally, Minnesota’s extra backcourt defender was often caught between trying to protect those passes to the basket to the bigs and making sure Kyrie Irving or another shooter didn’t have a clear view from the corner.
Even when the Timberwolves decided to blitz the pick-and-roll, Doncic easily found passes down the middle or on short rolls that ended up being hockey passes to other players in space. When Minnesota protected themselves on the ball screen, it created a similar problem that the backline defender faced when Gobert was in drop coverage: this time, the power forward was stuck defending the roll man as well as the corner three-point shooter.
Doncic had an impressive 35.3 percent assist rate in the series against Minnesota due to his impeccable reads on offense, something Boston was able to counter with its roster and game plan.
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Boston’s positional versatility was the difference in the series against Dallas — they had many more options to defend the pick-and-roll, among other offensive plays. Jayson Tatum Playing power forward was particularly effective given his ability to pass on Doncic.
Plus, having an elite perimeter defender Jrue’s Holidays Harassing Irving as soon as he got the ball took the Dallas guard out of his rhythm, forcing him to take hard looks off the rebound, a far cry from the assisted baskets the Mavericks players were seemingly getting at will against Minnesota.
Jaylen BrownDallas’ defense on Luka Doncic was also extremely impressive, as he used his length and athleticism to pick off Dallas’ best offensive option at midcourt, also forcing him into difficult shot attempts off the dribble.
Players like Al Horford And Kristaps Porzingis (when healthy) played a major role in defending the basket, preventing layup attempts, but also preventing easy lobs. Even when the Mavericks decided to try using a pick-and-pop setup with players like Derrick Jones Jr. And PJ WashingtonThe Celtics simply allowed them to shoot, without adjusting defensive coverage to compensate for their low shooting percentages (both players shot 9 of 34 from three-point range).
For the series, the Mavericks shot just 31.6 percent from three-point range, well below their season average of 36.0 percent. While that may have been tough to read for the Dallas faithful, the positives emerge when analyzing the roster additions this offseason – Klay Thompson, Naji MarshallAnd Quentin Grimes All add catching and shooting ability to a team that desperately needed it.
Considering the Mavericks shot below league average three times last season, these three additions make a lot of sense from an offensive standpoint. Add in the defensive upside of these players, and these roster moves, while perhaps not appealing to the national media, make a lot of sense.
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