Opponent Scouting: Dallas Mavericks. (10-10)
We are back. Took a little trip over thanksgiving/my birthday and got sick as hell upon return. I am also about to finish my (hopefully) final ever class.
Tonight at 7:00 pm EST the Detroit basketball Pistons are at home to face the Dallas Mavericks. Both teams are on one day of rest with the Pistons having been blown all the way out by the Knicks while the Mavs defeated the Warriors behind a monster effort from Luka Doncic.
The Them:
The Mavericks have Luka Doncic, so they cannot be counted out in any situation, as of now though, they are somewhat limited beyond their superstar. They come into this game with the 13th-ranked offense and 11th-best defense in the NBA. The Mavs are, of course, led by Luka Doncic. The 23-year-old is already clearly among the best players in the league, currently averaging 33.5 points, 8.6 assists, and 8.8 rebounds per game. Doncic is huge, skilled and athletic enough to get to basically all of his spots. He takes his time, gets to his spots, hits shots, makes passes, draws fouls, and is generally borderline unstoppable. The only issue he has as of now is that he only shoots 31% from deep despite huge volume.
After Doncic, it is largely a collection of various forms of role-players. Former Michigan star Tim Hardaway Jr has been struggling with his shot but he shoots a ton and history says he will find it before lone, Pistons legend Spencer Dinwiddie takes on some ball-handling duties and can get into the lane, draw fouls, and is shooting 40% from deep. Dorian Finney-Smith is more “D” than he is 3 but he’s a 6’7 wing who defends and can at least shoot a bit, despite limited offensive production he’s an effective and important player for Dallas. Dwight Powell has been starting but doesn’t typically play starters minutes, he’s athletic and will finish dunks but not a ton else.
Off the bench another Pistons legend comes in Christian Wood, Wood is scoring a high volume of points in somewhat limited minutes on great efficiency, but his defense remains suspect and he hasn’t really found a groove playing alongside Luka that the Mavs probably hoped that he would/still might find. (theoretically pairing Luka with such a dynamic scoring big man who can either pop for 3s or roll for alley oops would be incredible)
Josh Green is getting his first real rotation time this season (his 3rd in the league) and is shooting the ball well and isn’t bad defensively. Maxi Kleber is large and can shoot although he’s struggled with his shot this season. Kleber is also one of those guys who you forget is already 31 since he didn’t come to the states till he was 26. One last Pistons legend (and a player who your author always had a soft spot for) is Reggie Bullock. To say Bullock has been terrible this season would be an understatement as he is shooting just 27% from deep, Bullock has a long history of being high level shooter but its been brutal to start the year. Davis Bertans can still shoot and has occasionally popped into the rotation.
If some of the role players get going and they find better chemistry there is still a chance that this team becomes much better, in theory they have a good combination of spacing, secondary ball handling/scoring, and at least some defensive upside around Luka, but they have not found that version of the team yet.
Matchups to watch:
THE KILLIAN HAYES BELIEF O’METER: You’ve likely seen the numbers but they bear repeating. Since being inserted into the starting lineup 10 games ago, Killian Hayes is scoring 11 points and dishing 6 assists (against just 1.7 turnovers) per game while shooting 39% from deep and 40% from the field. That isn’t like, incredible, but combine it with his high level of defensive play and you’ve got a bonafide NBA player. If there is one silver lining to all the injury issues, its that it forced Killian into getting the space to find himself.
Saddiq Bey vs. What the heck man: I came into this space after the first couple of weeks and officially turned in my “Saddiq Bey Hater” badge because I was so impressed with how he’d played. He has steadily declined from there to where he is shooting just 27% from deep, his overall efficiency is tanked, and he’s been relegated to the bench. Bey needs to stop this spiral and fast.
Pistons vs. Luka: Pretty obvious. Everything this Mavs team does runs through Luka Doncic. Maybe the Pistons try and stick Killian on him? Doncic is probably too big for that to be overly effective. But the Pistons will need to try and find a way to force Doncic into some of his lesser tendencies, turn a couple of his drives into pullup threes, that type of thing.
Defense in general: Doesn’t need too much explaining I don’t think. The Pistons’ defense was atrocious against New York. Lets not repeat.
Pistons bigs vs. Christian Wood: Wood often gets some time to be the man when Doncic gets his short rests (the Mavs most used lineup without Luka is THJ/Dinwiddie/Green/Kleber/Wood) and he presents an issue for Detroit. Stewart is probably not athletic enough to really handle him, Bagley is very bad at defense in the best of circumstances, and Duren seems liable to commit some bad fouls. On the flip side, we know in Detroit that you can make Wood into a black hole who takes some bad shots. Keeping him in check to win the minutes that Doncic sits will be huge.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
Luka has 30 by halftime
Wood is dominating the bench units
The Pistons look uninterested defensively again.
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Luka Doncic is repeatedly looking at Killian Hayes aghast wondering what his deal is after stealing the ball again
Christian Wood tries to do too much against his old team
The Pistons are not down by 30 at any point in the game.
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
Killian Hayes is the Pistons best player and makes a valiant defensive effort against Doncic
Christian Wood has many dunks
Marvin Bagley presents real issues for the Mavs interior
Pistons bounce back to win behind a letdown night for Luka and good team effort
Pistons 115 - Mavs 106