DJ 9/10 from the line so far. Obviously not a 90% shooter, but if he can somehow hit mid 60's it would be huge.

Doncic vs Trae tonight. Should be fun.

I forsee a big night for both. The Mavs should win but Trae has the 'green' light to shoot at will. He'll put up points based on volume alone, but based on the recent shooting performances of other players against the Mavs I fully expect Trae to shoot 9/10 from 3pt.

I actually like these Atlanta jerseys

Im looking forward to the Mavericks rebranding soon

It's hard to believe he's 19 and this is only his fourth game in the NBA.

Matthews hit a lot of really good catch and shoot 3s in the first quarter.

Why the **** is he handling/taking all of the shots down the stretch. Carlisle needs to just sit him on the bench at the end of the game if he isn't going to play his role

wow...wes matthews just ****ing imploded. completely threw this game away at the end.

What the hell is Matthews doing on both ends of the court?

Both DSJ and Matthews imploded in the 4th and Carlisle just watched them

shoot wes matthews into the sun

M.C. Swag said:

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shoot wes matthews into the sun

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If he could just play within what his role should be, it would be great. I just dont see it happening and I'd be down to trade him if we could get someone that fits better.

3 and D

PatAg said:

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Matthews hit a lot of really good catch and shoot 3s in the first quarter.

Why the **** is he handling/taking all of the shots down the stretch. Carlisle needs to just sit him on the bench at the end of the game if he isn't going to play his role

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"Room guy"

I have a feeling Carlisle is going to work with Doncic to have him assert himself more as the season goes on. I think right now it's partly everyone feeling each other out, but it needs to end with Luka playmaking and DSJ looking to create off of that. Sometimes that will be him ball dominant, sometimes it wont. I assume Luka is deferring to Matthews because of his "room guy" rep and years in the league, but Wes cant pull off what his mind wants to anymore.

Barnes expected to play vs Raptors on Friday. Unacceptable to lose a 26 point lead. HB will be great to have back in the lineup. Should open us up more.

Raptors are currently 4th in the NBA in 3pt FG efficiency and the Mavs are ranked 28th in the NBA in 3pt FG % allowed. The Raptors are also 2nd in the league in Offensive rebounds.

Basically, Toronto doesnt miss. And when they do, they get the rebound.

This has all the makings of an ugly game for the Mavs.

M.C. Swag said:

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Raptors are currently 4th in the NBA in 3pt FG efficiency and the Mavs are ranked 28th in the NBA in 3pt FG % allowed. The Raptors are also 2nd in the league in Offensive rebounds.

Basically, Toronto doesnt miss. And when they do, they get the rebound.

This has all the makings of an ugly game for the Mavs.

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Except we have DeAndre to give us a significant advantage on the offensive glass we haven't had before.

At least we hung tough for most the game. We fall apart when doncic goes to the bench.

mavsfan4ever said:

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At least we hung tough for most the game. We fall apart when doncic goes to the bench.

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I thought our bench got us back in the game

The trick is going to be getting Luka to realize he needs to not defer to Wes or others down the stress.
Wes can catch and shoot off creation, but Luka needs to be handling the ball.

PatAg said:

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mavsfan4ever said:

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At least we hung tough for most the game. We fall apart when doncic goes to the bench.

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I thought our bench got us back in the game

The trick is going to be getting Luka to realize he needs to not defer to Wes or others down the stress.
Wes can catch and shoot off creation, but Luka needs to be handling the ball.

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Wes has had quite a start to the season- pretty interesting how he's driving more into the paint and facilitating. Dont have numbers, just going on eyeball test.

But yes, our bench is incredible. With JJ, Maxi and Dwight they absolutely kept out guys in it and even brought them back. Maxi and Dwight are such an awesome duo to watch

Hate to lose, but last night was really encouraging for team growth. Even Doncic did well against an elite NBA team

Didn't expect to win against the Jazz, but there was some really good moments during that game, but also another highlight of what needs to change.

DSJ got 27 points with a couple of assists, and even 2 blocks- looked really active and engaged out there. Even made a couple of defensive plays that didn't show up on the stat sheet. Overall, it was really his best game of the season

DeAndre damn near had a triple-double. Outrebounded Gobert, which paradoxically you both expect him to and are surprised he did. And he continues his hot free-throw shooting- was perfect from the line last night.

But I think the eyeball test tells you what needs to change, and that is Wes handling the ball, constantly dribbling, and making poor shooting choices. What probably is the most glaring stat that highlights the wrong direction of this team is free throws for Wes and DSJ.

Wes: 10/12 from FT line
DSJ: 0/0 from FT line

Part of it is that DSJ gets little love from the refs when driving into the lane, but to me it showcases how the offense is being run through the wrong guy. I 100% feel that Wes is the 5th scoring option in this starting lineup, and if this team is going to keep developing their young guys, then that above stat line of who drives into the lane and gets foul calls needs to change TODAY

I know our bench is good, but i feel like we constantly get in a hole at the end of the third quarter and beginning of fourth quarter. And we are playing our bench this entire time. It seems like we need to bring the starters back in earlier in the 4th.

I haven't looked at the numbers, so it's possible that we aren't actually digging as much as a hole in that time period as I think we are. But it sure seems that way most games.

Blows my mind that refs arent giving Luka more calls.

Already want to see Luka taking the last shots for this team.

Cant wait until we trade Wes

Luka and DSJ were both amazing tonight...cant wait to see the future with these two

Rick has to learn how to stagger his lineups. This isn't ****ing hockey. Once again st the end of third and early 4th we trotted out a lineup of jj Brunson finney kleiber and Powell. Why on earth would we ever put out a lineup without one of Luka or dsj? Or even Barnes or Wes would be an upgrade. It's ridiculous and caused us to get down early in the 4th again.

I don't know any other teams who just regularly bring in a hockey shift of backups in critical moments.

Luka is amazing. And I agree he should be taking the final shots.

Watching the bench blow that game was kind of jarring. Barea is just playing awful and Kleber was ICE cold. He bricked 4 or 5 WIDE OPEN threes. Not ideal.

As a unit, I liked what I saw from the starters. Luka, DSJ, and HB had really really good games. (i am starting to feel some awkwardness as Luka is clearly finding his alpha role and demanding the ball, which he should, but man...i hope this team starts to gel soon.)

DFS had another good game. I'd like to see Luka play with Powell. I feel like Dwight plays with more rim-running energy than Deandre.

Man, Luka would easily have 10+ assists if the Mavs could make a basket.

Overall exciting game that showcased the best from our talented trio. Disappointing that the bench let em down. Uncharacteristic of that unit.

mavsfan4ever said:

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Rick has to learn how to stagger his lineups. This isn't ****ing hockey. Once again st the end of third and early 4th we trotted out a lineup of jj Brunson finney kleiber and Powell. Why on earth would we ever put out a lineup without one of Luka or dsj? Or even Barnes or Wes would be an upgrade. It's ridiculous and caused us to get down early in the 4th again.

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It seems to me like he's playing them as a line so they can maximize their time playing together. I think he's just trying to get them gelling as a 30+ minute unit as fast as possible.

That may be true, and I'd be fine with that if we had our pick this year. Just let our young talent play together and not worry about the results. But we don't have our pick, so we should be trying to win games (don't think we will be bad enough to be bottom 5). And if we are trying to win games, you can't play a line of JJ Brunson Finney Kleiber Powell for long stretches each game, and especially not in critical moments.

mavsfan4ever said:

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That may be true, and I'd be fine with that if we had our pick this year. Just let our young talent play together and not worry about the results. But we don't have our pick, so we should be trying to win games (don't think we will be bad enough to be bottom 5). And if we are trying to win games, you can't play a line of JJ Brunson Finney Kleiber Powell for long stretches each game, and especially not in critical moments.

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That lineup actually does pretty good

Maybe for the first couple of games. It's been very bad lately at the end of third and early fourth. I don't even mind it too much in the first half. But no reason to have that lineup out there in the 4th quarter.

According to basketball reference, that lineup is out 16th out of 20 lineups on the season. It's a ridiculous -34.7 points per 100 possessions. And it plays the 3rd most mi it's out of any 5 man lineup. So it has been awful this year. it's crazy to have that lineup out there in critical moments. Not sure what rick is thinking.

mavsfan4ever said:

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According to basketball reference, that lineup is out 16th out of 20 lineups on the season. It's a ridiculous -34.7 points per 100 possessions. And it plays the 3rd most mi it's out of any 5 man lineup. So it has been awful this year. it's crazy to have that lineup out there in critical moments. Not sure what rick is thinking.

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yea, i think its when he puts it up against the other teams starters that makes no sense