Are Mavericks Positioned For 2nd Half/Postseason Run w/Luka Doncic, Kyrie, etc? | Post Break Preview

Are Mavericks Positioned For 2nd Half/Postseason Run w/Luka Doncic, Kyrie, etc? | Post Break Preview

Welcome to inside the Mavs the official Mavericks podcast of 971 the freak on the Dallas Mavericks radio network I’m your host Kevin gray Maverick pre and post game host appreciate you joining me here for the latest episode of inside the mass if you’re watching this on my YouTube channel at Kevin Grace Sports

Make sure you like and comment on this video if you’re listening to the podcast make sure you give the podcast a festar rating and write a review for it while you’re there and you can download the podcast on Apple podcast Spotify or wherever you get your podcast for free

You can find me on Twitter kevinr Sports let’s get you ready for the Mavericks post Allstar break schedule as the Mavericks at 32 and 23 get ready to take on the Phoenix Suns on Thursday as they take now their final 27 games of the regular season for the opportunity to

Solidify themselves in the top six of the Western Conference throughout our show today going to give you an outlook on what the Maverick schedule looks like give you a breakdown of what their Eastern and Western Conference opponents looks like we’ll also take a look at what they’ve been doing through their

Six game winning streak and maybe it gives us an idea about what this team can continue to do going forward and more importantly their MVP candidate and Luca donic and what he’s done so far this year and what he can continue to do to help Propel this team forward now

That they are after the allstar break so a lot to get to in our episode today here on inside the MAV but let’s start here the Mavericks on a six-game winning streak coming into the All-Star break now get ready to take on the Phoenix Suns and Kevin Durant on Thursday the

Mavericks sit at seventh in the western conference right now with a win they can find themselves getting into the top six by virtue of defeating the Phoenix Suns but when you look at what they’ve done throughout their six game winning streak it hopefully gives us an indication on

The habits that they’ve been building and some of the guys that have been playing well during the win streak to be able to give us more of an idea of what they can continue to do moving forward the obvious Acquisitions of PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford PJ Washington has been terrific on the

Defensive end so far with the collective defense that he’s been playing playing multiple positions and giving you a lot of athleticism and size Daniel Gafford who has helped this team become a much better rebounding team since he’s arrived from the Washington Wizard some numbers will help indicate that here in

Just a moment so you’re still getting Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington meshed into this team to hopefully build some continuity but as you look back pre-all-star break this Mavericks team play more starting lineups than any other team in the NBA injuries have taken a toll on this team Derek Lively

Who spoke to the media on Tuesday says that he will continue to wear a mask for at least the next month as he continues to recover from his Bo brok knows but at the same time he will be able to play for the Mavericks now that you have

Daniel Gafford a really nice one-two punch at the center position for your starter and for your backup now but let’s take a look at some numbers to give you an idea on what the Mavs have been doing during the six game winning streak they’re number one in defensive rating at

102.5 I could stop right there and say that’s the biggest difference that we’ve seen for this team in the last six games they’re commitment on the defensive end has been much better the effort on that end has been much better and yes when we look at their six-game win streak and

Who they’ve beaten the Philadelphia 76ers the Nets the Knicks the Oklahoma City Thunder which I would consider the best win of these six games so far by beating them 146 to 111 then you’ve got the Washington Wizards win and then closing out the San Antonio Spurs for your pre-all-star break schedule beating

Them by 23 116 to9 93 now when you look at how they open up their post All-Star break schedule you’ve got the Phoenix Suns then you go on a 4 game Road Trip that includes the Indiana Pacers the Cleveland Cavaliers the Toronto Raptors and the Bost of Celtics before you come

Home to take on the Sixers Pacers and the Miami Heat so if you could continue if you’re the Mavericks to play the kind of consistent defense that we have seen and I don’t want you to necessarily worry about the opponent during the six game winning streak but I want you to

Concern yourself with are the things that they’re doing differently in terms of how they can position themselves to play that same way against some of the better teams of the East and the west down the stretch in their final 27 games and what have they been doing

Differently let’s take a look at the numbers block shots they’re averaging 6.3 block shots per game during their six game winning streak that’s good for fifth in the NBA they’re number one in the league in rebounds per game at 49 we just just talked about the difference

That Daniel Gafford has made on both the offensive and defensive glass and now with the return and hopefully consistent now play of Derek livley within the starting lineup for this Mavericks team those numbers will continue to swell especially on the defensive glass where part of being a good defensive team is

Closing out possessions and limiting teams to just one shot and so far during the six game winning streak we are seeing a much more improved rebounding team and that should be a much much much better thing for the Mavericks going forward as well because we know

That this team has not been a good rebounding team for quite some time and we’ve maligned that for a long time when discussing what the Mavericks have to do to in order to get better they’re doing that now in terms of their rebounding other numbers that help you give you a

Better picture of what they’ve been doing during their six game winning streak seventh in the NBA right now in offensive rating in their last six games at 11.8 which means they are third over overall in net rating at a plus 17.3 during their six game winning

Streak the six games that they’ve won in a row are tied for the longest current win streak in the NBA with the Boston Celtics which they will see that Celtics team on Friday March the 1 so when you just look at what the Mavericks have done so far they’ve been able to improve

On the defensive end they’re rebounding at a much better rate they are also able to block shots and be able to close out possessions with defensive rebounds as well and they’re getting contributions from their new guys in PJ Washington and Daniel gaffer who are having immediate impacts and paying off immediate

Dividends in the areas where the Mavericks need them to do most as we mentioned number one in defensive rating PJ Washington has been spectacular on the defensive end Daniel Gafford in terms of the rebound that he’s provided obviously the Mavericks have improved in that area so you’re seeing how some of

These things are starting to come together based on the way that they play and of course LC donic who leads the NBA in scoring averaging over 34 points per game is going to continue to lead you on the offensive end let’s take a quick break here and hear from today’s video

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Continue to take a look at the Mavericks as we get you a preview of their post Allstar break schedule as they play their final 27 games of the regular season as they make a push toward the top six of the Western Conference before the break we were detailing what the

Mavericks had been doing during their six game winning streak in the contributions that Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington had provided so far for this team and with hopefully improved Health with obviously already the return of Don of Derek Lively hopefully the return of Dante exom here soon from his right knee soreness will

Allow this team to continue to build that much more depth going forward for the rest of the Year Jason kid talking about it on Tuesday saying hopefully that exom comes back during the road trip that they will go on beginning on Sunday day when they take on the Indiana

Pacers but let’s look at the final 27 games of this season as we mentioned the Mavericks taking on the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night at the American Airlines Center where they have a chance to climb into the top six of the West as you break down their final 27 regular season

Games it goes a little something like this you’ve got 11 home games for the Mavericks 16 Road games which includes a separate four and five game Road Trip during those final 16 Road games their opponent win percentage is 495 which is the 10th easiest in the NBA

During the final 27 games of the regular season they’ve got 14 games against the west and 13 games against the Eastern Conference so that gives you a little bit of a breakdown on what the matters will be facing as they move forward for the rest of the regular season and that

Third part I want to focus on here their opponent win percentage is going to be a combined 495 a 10th the 10th easiest in the league that means this team will have several opportunities to get some really nice wins to really push themselves as far as the top six of the

West you look at their first five games coming out of the post Allstar break schedule it’s going to be pretty difficult you got Phoenix you got to go on the road to Indiana you take on Cleveland who’s been as one of the hottest teams in the league over the

Last couple of months then you go on the road to take on the Toronto Raptors then you face arguably the best team in the Eastern Conference in the Boston Celtics then you come home against the Sixers Pacers and the Miami Heats before you take on on March 9th Detroit Pistons and

The Chicago Bulls on March 11th before you come back home to take on the Golden State Warriors on March the 13th so you see how difficult their first several games are to Traverse post allar break now if you’re looking for those wins against the Toronto Raptors on the road

On February you believe that that’s a win there a depleted Philadelphia 76ers team that has no Joel andb and you saw that the Mavericks were able to handle them on the road back on February 5th where they won 118 to 102 as part of their current six-g game winning streak

Obviously Chicago has not been very good so far this year the inconsistency and up and down nature for them so as you look at their schedule you start to parse out where they can find some wins but at the same time they’ll need to steal a couple Specialties you look at

That road trip when they take on the Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers before they take on the Boston Celtics after taking on the Toronto Raptors but with all that being said you have a chance to make up some ground with a schedule that lends itself to an

Opportunity to be able to win some games and when you look at what Luca donic has been doing so far this year number one in the NBA in scoring he’s third in the league and assists this season he’s also number seven in steals and he’s number two in three-pointers made what I’m

Getting at is as you continue to rack up wins and continue to climb up the Western Conference standings the MVP case for Luca donic continues to get stronger and stronger let’s think about it you’ve got nicolea yic you got Shay gilis Alexander you’ve got Giannis aend

Comoo right now as your top three MVP candidates if Luca dones in this team who are right now a season High nine games above 500 find themselves getting to the top six may be climbing into the top five of the West and a team that can be double digits above F double digit

Gains above 500 I should say you’re looking at an MVP candidate that’s legit and based on the output that he’s been putting together throughout the course of the Year especially on the offensive end with not just the scoring that he’s doing but also the generating of everything else in terms of the other

Guys scoring themselves you’re looking at the one of the leading MVP candidates we talked about in our last episode Luca dones right now was third in the NBA at unrealized assists but he’s generating the best shot quality of any player in the NBA so for other guys like the Kyrie

Irvings of the world the Josh greens whomever you want to name if they’re going to make teams pay Luca Don’s MVP case becomes that much stronger and that’s where we look at this team as a whole Luca Donis and Kyrie Irving are going to give you nearly 60 point

Tonight Kyrie Irving after coming back from his injury at the beginning of January has been spectacular on both ends of the floor you saw the kind of shot creativity and shot making that he did against the San Antonio Spurs as long as Kyrie Irving and Luca dones remain healthy they are the best

Backcourt duo in the NBA there are no two better guards in a starting lineup in today’s NBA than Luca dones and Kyrie Irving given the amount of creativity that they can both do for themselves when it comes to scoring but also setting up other teammates as well and

Speaking of one of those teammates we mentioned earlier Daniel gaffer right now is number one in the NBA in field goal percentage so when you’re getting better defensive play on one end the amount of scoring that you’re going to continue to see on the other end where

Right now the Mavericks are 11th in the NBA in offensive rating and as they continue to play with the kind of pace that we’ve seen them play with so far this year they’re eighth right now in the NBA in Pace combining that with better defense you’re going to find a

Team that can beat you in multiple ways we’ve talked about it some once the Acquisitions of PJ Washington and Daniel gaffer were made you’ve got a 10-man rotation now especially when you’re healthy that allows you a lot of Versatility to do a lot of different things from def the defensive coverage

Standpoint but also on offense think about a maxi kba for example now he’s not only going to be able to come off the bench but he can provides you with the multiple versatile aspects that he can do on defense whether it be guarding multiple positions on the defensive end

But then on the offensive end knocking down three-pointers being able to attack the rim with much more confidence on Closeouts and be able to make some things happen offensively where he doesn’t need necessarily to just stand around and wait for guys to pass in the ball to knock down shots although

Primarily that’s what he’s able to do in stretching the floor on the offensive end that’s just one example of a guy now who’s properly slotted in the position that he needs to based on how much deeper your team is because of the Acquisitions that you were able to make

In PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford and here’s something else that we’ve got to make sure that we discuss here today we’ve talked about some of the things that the Mavericks have been doing from an overall team aspect whether it be defensive rating offensive rating over the last six games of what they’ve been

Able to do one thing that the Mavericks have been consistent on throughout the course of the year is their ability to protect the basketball so far this year they are the third best team in the NBA only turning the ball over 12 and a half times per game so when you’re scoring at

The kind of rate that the Mavericks do when you’re playing the much better defense that you’re capable of playing but also you’re protecting the ball and able to close out possessions with defensive rebounds now you’re limiting opportunities for teams to take advantage of you and you are also

Limiting mistakes as a defense and as an offense if you’re the Dallas Mavericks and one of the things that I love watching about this team as the season has gone on is their ability to get out in the Fast Break pushing the pace against other teams to get easy buckets

And that’s predicated on your ability to not only protect the ball but also be able to get stops on the defensive end so for the Mavericks they have multiple ways that they can beat you and as they continue to coales together this is a

Team that you can look at to be at one of the more dangerous teams in the NBA you know that they’re going to shoot the ball at a pretty high clip they are 10th in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage this year they’re also seventh in the league in points per game

So we know how lethal they’re going to be offensively every single night it’s about can they put it together on the defensive end overall this season they’re 19th in the NBA in defensive rating but as we noted earlier have been much better as of late and as they play

Against more quality opponents you’re hoping that those habits will continue to build for this Mavericks team for the rest of the season and if so now we can start looking at this team as a more dangerous one in the Western Conference make no mistake about it obviously with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the

Length and the size that they present with Carl Anthony towns and Rudy Gober the athleticism of an Anthony Edwards you look at the same athleticism and a guy in Shay gilis Alexander who’s one of the best guards and one of the best players in the league five in scoring

Also the number one steals guy in the NBA he drives that engine for the Oklahoma City Thunder I don’t have to say anything about Nicole yic and what he does for the Denver Nuggets as the literal hub for everything that they do every single night Kevin Durant for the

Phoenix Suns obviously for the Los Angeles Clippers if kawh lonard remains healthy that is a dangerous team along with Paul George James Harden Russell Westbrook who’s embraced his role in coming off the bench for the Clippers you can see the amount of teams even the New Orleans Pelicans who are playing

Terrific under Willie Green right now with Zion Williamson as their primary ball handler there’s a lot of stiff competition in the west and you still got to look and remember to hold off teams like the Los Angeles Lakers like the Golden State Warriors and others who

Are going to be trying to get themselves and Claw themselves in the top six of the west but for their Outlook this is all going to be about LCA donic here’s another thing to give you indication on how much we talked about nicoa yic and how everything goes through him for LCA

Donic is the same thing so far Luca dones leads the league in both time of possession at 8.6 minutes per game and isolation possessions at 7.2 per game his 1.10 points per possession on isolations ranks fifth among 38 players with at least 100 total isolation possessions according to Synergy we know

How well he’s able to do in one-on-one situations and being able to take advantage of that but what you may not know is that Luca Donis has been one of the best isolation and post Defenders so far this year too it’s his commitment on the defensive end that’s really going to

Help continue to drive the Mavericks and everyone will have to fall in line and for Jason kid his ability to get the most out of this team will be the number one factor going forward here because yes you need good health you need pj Washington and Daniel Gafford especially

In Washington’s case to get much better in knocking down open three-pointers because we talked about it a little bit earlier for guys like Derek Jones Jr PJ Washington Dante exom Tim Hardway Jr jayton Hardy in some cases as well these guys have got to make teams pay for

Leaving them wide open and the consistencies that you’ve seen from both Josh green and Jaden Hardy really over the last month should give Mavericks fans a lot more confidence in their ability to continue to play that way going forward here’s here here’s how I look at the starting lineup for the

Mavericks you’ve got Luca Donis and Kyrie Irving obviously as your top two Josh Green REM needs to remain in your starting five if you’re the Mavericks as you’re small forward PJ Washington I believe should slide in as you’re starting number four and then Derek Lively who has earned the right to be

Your starting center this season remains in that starting center role so you’ve got starting five of Luca Kyrie Josh Green PJ Washington and Derek Lively who’s emerged arguably as your third best player so far this year and then you’ve got a rotation behind them that includes Derek Jones Jr that also

Includes Dante XM when he’s healthy obviously for Daniel Gafford Tim hardyway Jr Maxi Cleveland you see where I’m going here you got a much deeper team that can fit into each position that you’re looking for and with Kyrie Irving leading that second unit and you

Saw the way that he took over in that second quarter against the San Antonio Spurs now you’ve got guys in each position that can fulfill and more importantly play the same type of Style no matter who’s on the floor because that’s all that you’re looking for not obviously just from your starting five

But from your second five as well can you continue to play with the continued style of play that you want to regardless of who was on the floor and based on the Personnel that the Mavericks have now you can play the same way with your starting five and with

Your next five as well that improves continuity it improves consistency and the same message now resonates throughout the entire 10 man rotation about what it means to be in a guy that means to be consistency going forward so for the Mavericks you look at a lot of different things that they’ve been able

To do so far this year and now you have a better picture and idea of what that looks like for them going forward for the rest of the year I’m excited excited to see what this group does based on what they’ve been able to achieve the adversity they’ve been able to overcome

This year with the injuries that they’ve dealt with but most importantly now they have a chance to build and grow with the pieces that they’ve Acquired and now with their consistency with their understanding and their growth within both the offensive and defensive schemes that the Mavericks are looking to

Incorporate going forward now this team becomes that much more dangerous because when you’ve got LCA Don and Kyrie Irving spearheading this team now guys have got to fall in line based off of what is being asked to them from a vision standpoint night in and night out and

That is an exciting aspect for this Mavericks team so we’ve looked at what they’ve done in terms of their six-game winning streak we’ve also looked at what the outlook for this team is going forward for the rest of the year the question now ultimately becomes how far

Can they go this team based on the way that they play over the last six games and really over the last month this will be a team that will be in the playin at minimum and most importantly in my mind I believe they will be in the top six

When it’s all said and done at the end of the regular season granted this team stays healthy they’ve got a schedule that allows them to rack up some wins they are now finding their identity on both the offensive and defensive ends with the Personnel that they’ve acquired

You’ve got a top five talent in the league in Luca Don and a top 15 player and Kyrie Irving alongside him so you got your perfect Batman and Robin you got your Ro players now situated in the positions that they are in to succeed and that’s where Jason kid comes in can

He put this team and his players in position to succeed night in and night out you’ve heard it from players like Maxi kba among others that they believe this coaching staff gives them really good game plans night in and night out to be able to be in the best spot to

Succeed given the opponent that they will play and that for the Mavericks is going to be key adapting to who they play each and every night not playing down the competition because at times this team has a tendency to do that to play down to their opponent when you’re

Trying to get to the top six of the West there can be no nights where you’re playing down to your competition and you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities when you need to no slow starts like you saw against the San Antonio Spurs similarly against the Wizards you cannot have those games

Where you’re playing down to to competition and allowing them to stay in games that they have no business being in take the example that they had against the Oklahoma City Thunder where they destroyed them from the outset winning that game 146 to 111 they did not allow Shay gilis Alexander and that

Oklahoma City Thunder to breathe that is the mentality that the Maverick have to take in night after night and it starts on Thursday when they take on Kevin Durant Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns you have a chance if you’re the Mavericks to send a clear message to the

Rest of the Western Conference at the very beginning of your post All-Star break schedule by handling business against the Suns and that is that you mean business that you are in position to make a run for it for the final 27 games of the season and most importantly

You would get to a season High 10 games above 500 at 33 and 23 that would be huge for this team giving everything that has been through to get to this point will they have enough down the stretch and enough gas left in the tank to continue to sustain what they’ve been

Able to do it’s taken a lot for them to get to this point but now they are here with new reinforcements in the likes of PJ Washington and Daniel gaffer but for me that’s going to be the most important can you set the tone at the very beginning of your post Allstar break

Schedule by taking out a very good Phoenix Suns team obviously in terms of Kevin Durant and what they present and now are you able to now put yourself in a spot going on a four game Road Trip to take advantage of some opportunities the difficult schedule will obviously be

There with Indiana Cleveland Toronto and Boston before you come home for three games against the Sixers Pacers again and the Miami Heat take advantage of the opportunities that you can continue to build on the habits that youve put forward so far do your six game winning

Streak and then as you continue to watch the West rest of the Western Conference in front of you now make up ground when you have the opportunities to do it when you take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road on March 14th when you take on

The Denver Nuggets back at home at the American Airlines Center on March the 17th there are plenty of opportunities to keep teams down that are behind you like a golden state when they take on the Golden State Warriors at the AAC on March the 13th and hopefully make up

Some ground and be able to move up the West when you’re taking on some of the better teams in the west as I mentioned with the Oklahoma City Thunder the Denver Nuggets and others now this team can really find themselves getting into a Groove to make things happen in the

West but this team has got a lot of excitement in front of them you’ve seen how this team has been able to grow throughout the course of the Year stay healthy gain consistency and more importantly cons continuity and chemistry for this team going forward

For the rest of the Year this is a very dangerous Mavericks team that could be on the way in the west and that for me and for all of us should be exciting about what’s to come over the final 27 games of the regular season and there’s

A lot to play out still and hopefully for this team it’s about winning in winning at a high rate given the schedule that will allow them to do so we’ll see for the Mavericks as they get ready to take on the Phoenix Suns on Thursday to begin their final 27 games

Of the regular season really appreciate you joining me for this episode of inside the Mavs again make sure you like and comment on the video if you’re watching it on my YouTube channel at kevinr sports if you’re listening to it on the podcast make sure you give it a five star rating

Write a review for it while you’re there and check it out and let your F friends and family know to download And subscribe to inside the Mavs the official maveri podcast of 971 the freak wherever you get your podcast for free on Apple Spotify and of course on iHeart

Radio and you can catch me every single Mavericks radio broadcast as we I’m the Mavericks pre and post game host on 971 the freak on the Dallas Mavericks radio network I’ll have the pregame beginning at 6 pm on Thursday when the Mavericks take on the Phoenix Suns at the AAC and

Of course for every Maverick game you can listen to me on 971 the freak again this has been inside the Mavs the official Maverick podcast of 971 the freak on the Dallas Maverick radio Network my name is Kevin gray and I’ll talk to you next time on our next

Episode of inside the mass we’ll talk to you later peace

#dallasmavericks #lukadoncic #kyrieirving #pjwashington

On this episode of ‘Inside The Mavs’ I preview the Dallas Mavericks post All-Star Break schedule as I preview the Mavericks 2nd half schedule and break down if they are ready for a postseason run as they are in the midst of their six-game winning streak. I discuss what the Mavericks have done well during their win streak and if things can continue post All-Star Break. I break down their schedule and their outlook and tell you if the Mavericks are positioned to make a postseason run and get into the top six of the Western Conference. Plus I break down who the key contributors must be in order to help the Mavericks for the rest of the season if the roster is good enough to compete with some of the best teams in the West and much more!

Support the show: This episode is brought to you by our partner Mint Mobile. Go to our partner https://mintmobile.com/kevingray to get premium wireless for as low as $15 a month.

Be sure to like and comment on the video and subscribe to my channel here @KevinGraySports and follow me on Twitter @KevinGraySports

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