The Dallas Mavericks are the new darlings of the NBA world. They are that classic upstart team with a lot of promise, a fresh-faced, playoff-level squad who’s instantly making noise in the big stage, led by their sensational euro superstar, Luka Doncic.
We can spend countless hours fanboy-ing over the Slovenian wonderboy. He’s a joy to watch, and it’s easy to marvel at the poise, vast skill, sneaky strength, and high basketball IQ he possesses. The numbers are up to par with the great ones as well since he’s already ninth all-time in triple-doubles – not too shabby for a 21-year-old.
All that is obviously great and exciting for the rising Mavericks, but we also have to acknowledge that having a good supporting cast has become a tool for Doncic to shine even further.
While there’s room for improvement, and they have ways to go, it’s time we give a look on the Mavs’ ‘Other Guys,’ especially now that they’re tasked to step up more following Kristaps Porzingis’s season-ending injury.
The three guards – Tim Hardaway Jr., Seth Curry, and Trey Burke
The three good-scoring guards all play alike, and it’s a nice compliment to what Luka brings to the table. They can handle the ball and create shots from themselves.
Hardaway Jr. leads the trio as he’s the third scorer of the Mavericks behind Doncic and Porzingis – 15.8 PPG in the regular season, 19.4 PPG in the playoffs. He doesn’t have the handles and slashing explosiveness of his father, but he’s making up for it by being a deadly outside shooter. He’s also reliable in catch-and-shoot situations, where he’s shooting 42%.
Curry’s game mirrors THJ, and is right behind him in scoring – 12.8 PPG in the regular season, 14.0 PPG in the playoffs. He can shoot anywhere and is skilled enough to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim, be it to draw contact, shoot runners and floaters, and whatnot.
Burke, meanwhile, is playing like the steal of the transaction window. He was inexplicably waived by the Philadelphia 76ers and was gladly picked up by the Mavs as a replacement for Willie Cauley-Stein, who opted out of the restart.
As a late addition, Burke filled his role well regular season games and continued it with his great showing in the playoffs – 12 PPG in the regular season, 13.6 PPG in the playoffs. In the current postseason, we’ve seen him turn back the clock from his college years as he’s scoring from inside and out, and penetrating with his crafty handles.
The defensive stoppers – Maxi Kleber, Dorian Finney Smith, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
These guys do the dirty work, and they’re pretty pesky defenders in the perimeter and down low. They fill out the defensive void left by Doncic and the three aforementioned guards, who are all a little suspect defensively.
Kleber is a bruising presence in the paint with his beefy built (and has an improving outside shot), Finney-Smith is a ‘3 and D’ guy that also happens to have 7’0 wingspan, and Kidd-Gilchrist is a strong defender with active hands.
Check out the good collective effort they did on Paul George, who struggled for three-straight games before breaking out:
Luka and the Mavs will be back in action tomorrow, August 31, for Game 6 of their series against the LA Clippers. They are down, 3-2, so we should see high sense of urgency.
