The Dallas Mavericks played arguably their most electric game of the season on Sunday afternoon, as Kyrie Irving drilled a wild 21-foot left-handed runner on the outstretched arms of Nikola Jokic to secure a Mavericks victory over the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
The Mavericks continue to impress with their physicality and defensive connectivity throughout this recent stretch, as Dallas has won five of its last six games since Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd opted to insert Derrick Jones Jr. and Daniel Gafford in the starting matchup. align.
However, Jones Jr. and Gafford obviously don’t bolster the Mavericks’ 3-point shooting much when they’re on the court, despite the fact that Jones Jr. finally connect remotely on some of his attempts.
The Mavericks have also recently had poor shooting from most of their role players, like Maxi Kleber and PJ Washington continues to struggle immensely from the 3-point line Also. The Mavericks have only made about 15 or more 3-pointers in the last six games, and in two of those games the Mavericks didn’t even make 10 3-pointers.
The Dallas Mavericks continue to hang with elite teams even with poor shooting.
Dallas shot 8-33 (24.2%) from downtown today and beat the defending NBA champions Denver Nuggets.
Imagine what it will look like once Dallas starts hitting.
– Noah Weber (@noahweber00) March 17, 2024
With a reliable 3-point shooter Josh Green out due to injury along with the fact that most of Dallas’ role players have struggled on the outside recently, a remedy to Dallas’ shooting woes outside of Irving and Luka Doncic appears to be nowhere to be found.
However, Mavericks shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. is one of the best shooters in the NBA when fully locked in and he’s certainly the type of player Dallas could use to generate offense beyond the bow. Unfortunately, Hardaway Jr. is currently in the midst of one of the worst shooting slumps of his career, one that lasted over a month and a half and dragged Hardaway Jr. to 15.7 points per game on 35.9 percent shooting from outside.
I asked Mavs guard Tim Hardaway Jr. if his mindset changed during his shooting slump:
“That doesn’t change… If it had changed, I wouldn’t have been there shooting shots, I’d just be there passing the ball, passing open looks… My teammates have always had confidence in me .” pic.twitter.com/oq6MXntCME
– Noah Weber (@noahweber00) March 16, 2024
Hardaway Jr. remains positive amid his slump, which is something Mavericks fans can hope for at the moment given the team is still enjoying success, but getting the microwave scorer and 3-point sharpshooter back that Mavericks fans saw Hardaway Jr. become early on. The season would be transcendent for the Mavericks given how good defense they are currently playing.
Hopefully Hardaway Jr. can up the ante heading into the playoffs, as the Mavericks may have to do. look for other options in their rotation if Hardaway Jr. continues to string together games where he only scores one point in 15 minutes, as was his case against Denver on Sunday afternoon.
For more on Tim Hardaway Jr. and the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the playoffs, stay tuned as we get back to you.
