That was the most egregious overturn that I can remember in sports. "It might not have been a foul. I don't know." is not a good reason to overturn a call.

Fun game overall, though. Need every win they can get. Making the playoffs is going to be tough.

Mavs got screwed.

What really upset me was the refs didn't give us the ball back. That stupid jump ball did us in.

Gonna try not to blame this on that horrible overturned foul

Mavs coughed up a huge lead, and that's part of the story of this game. The other part of this game story is the pairing of Luka and KP really has become better than advertised.

But.... even with overturning that foul... having it go to the jump shot was bull****

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401160680

I think there is a lot to be encouraged by. Hard to watch that game and not think the Mavs are right there with the Blazers in terms of quality. It took the Blazers hitting 51% from the field, 41% from 3 *and* the Mavs hitting 26% from 3 in order to squeak out a 1 possession win. The wing position is still the biggest flaw on the team. Jackson, Finney-Smith and Hardaway combined for a 5-19 night. And two of those guys don't play defense. The Mavs are a Robert Covington type away from being very dangerous.

I also think this Warriors meltdown (G league roster + Curry) has positive implications for the Mavs. Sports pundits pretty much looked at last years playoffs and swapped OKC for LAL and declared that there is no more room in the West. To me the only teams I see being clearly better than the Mavs (in terms of regular season record) will be the Clippers, Houston, Nuggets and Jazz. After that there is a whole group of teams Blazers, Lakers, Spurs, Mavs and Wolves that could arrange themselves 5 through 9. Although I would favor the Lakers/Blazers for the 5th/6th spots. The Lakers are the tough one because they have championship upside but their bench is trash (aside from Caruso of course) and I'm not sure how they handle regular season load management which will cost them some games. Its only 1 week but for a quick take it looks like there is a very real path to making the playoffs (in terms of both the Mavs quality and some weakness manifested by the rest of the West).

jeffdjohnson said:

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https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401160680

I think there is a lot to be encouraged by. Hard to watch that game and not think the Mavs are right there with the Blazers in terms of quality. It took the Blazers hitting 51% from the field, 41% from 3 *and* the Mavs hitting 26% from 3 in order to squeak out a 1 possession win. The wing position is still the biggest flaw on the team. Jackson, Finney-Smith and Hardaway combined for a 5-19 night. And two of those guys don't play defense. The Mavs are a Robert Covington type away from being very dangerous.

I also think this Warriors meltdown (G league roster + Curry) has positive implications for the Mavs. Sports pundits pretty much looked at last years playoffs and swapped OKC for LAL and declared that there is no more room in the West. To me the only teams I see being clearly better than the Mavs (in terms of regular season record) will be the Clippers, Houston, Nuggets and Jazz. After that there is a whole group of teams Blazers, Lakers, Spurs, Mavs and Wolves that could arrange themselves 5 through 9. Although I would favor the Lakers/Blazers for the 5th/6th spots. The Lakers are the tough one because they have championship upside but their bench is trash (aside from Caruso of course) and I'm not sure how they handle regular season load management which will cost them some games. Its only 1 week but for a quick take it looks like there is a very real path to making the playoffs (in terms of both the Mavs quality and some weakness manifested by the rest of the West).

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Every year I hope for the west to get weaker. I'm almost always disappointed tho.

However, KD going to the East is very fortunate. It seemed like everyone outside of california hated the warriors because of that asshat Draymond green.

Massive win over Denver! Bench saved our ass, even with Luka having an off night. They just made Jokic look stupid

Good sign of things to come

They pulled it out. Maxi was huge. Luka's gotta fix those free throws.

Bench balled out. Nice knowing they can go on the road and beat a good team with both of their stars having off nights.

Phenomenal night by the bench! Great to see them win on the road against a tuff opponent with both Luka and KP having off nights.

Kleber

Awesome win. Great play from bench again. We have to have the best bench in the league. Amazing to beat a team like Denver on the road when Luka and kp shot so poorly.

We are legit good. I thought we'd be 7-8 seed with a chance to be better if everything went right. I'm beginning to think we could be a top 4 seed. I know it's early, but I'm getting excited. We obviously have offense, and the kp/Dwight and kp/kleber combos now give us great rim protection.

Curry and Brunson played great tonight. I guess everyone other than Luka and kp played great tonight

That last defensive play by DFS on Murray was a thing of beauty.

mavsfan4ever said:

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Awesome win. Great play from bench again. We have to have the best bench in the league. Amazing to beat a team like Denver on the road when Luka and kp shot so poorly.

We are legit good. I thought we'd be 7-8 seed with a chance to be better if everything went right. I'm beginning to think we could be a top 4 seed. I know it's early, but I'm getting excited. We obviously have offense, and the kp/Dwight and kp/kleber combos now give us great rim protection.

Curry and Brunson played great tonight. I guess everyone other than Luka and kp played great tonight

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Hold your horses on that one. I want to see how we play against the cali teams first.

win total through 4 games

Mavs - 3

Refs - 1

LAL
@CLE
ORL
NYK

Let's go 4-0 and make an early season statement that we came to play this year.

M.C. Swag said:

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Just did the math and the Mavs bench has outscored each opposing bench in all 4 games this season. Total Mavs bench pts is 186 vs 130 for opposing teams.

^Thats our playoff blueprint. We don't have a "3rd guy", but we have an entire second unit. Carlisle gonna have some fun this season.

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Which begs the question, when/how do we get a 3rd guy? What kind of player would put us in contention for a title?

South Platte said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Just did the math and the Mavs bench has outscored each opposing bench in all 4 games this season. Total Mavs bench pts is 186 vs 130 for opposing teams.

^Thats our playoff blueprint. We don't have a "3rd guy", but we have an entire second unit. Carlisle gonna have some fun this season.

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Which begs the question, when/how do we get a 3rd guy? What kind of player would put us in contention for a title?

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I'm really interested to see what happens when Powell is fully integrated. Powell and KP with Luka makes for some tough decisions for defenders. See, e.g.,

MW03 said:

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South Platte said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Just did the math and the Mavs bench has outscored each opposing bench in all 4 games this season. Total Mavs bench pts is 186 vs 130 for opposing teams.

^Thats our playoff blueprint. We don't have a "3rd guy", but we have an entire second unit. Carlisle gonna have some fun this season.

---

Which begs the question, when/how do we get a 3rd guy? What kind of player would put us in contention for a title?

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I'm really interested to see what happens when Powell is fully integrated. Powell and KP with Luka makes for some tough decisions for defenders. See, e.g.,

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Um, I was thinking more along the lines of a front line free agent . . . no offense to Dwight Powell . . .

Lets stay on brand and get Gallinari then.

South Platte said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Just did the math and the Mavs bench has outscored each opposing bench in all 4 games this season. Total Mavs bench pts is 186 vs 130 for opposing teams.

^Thats our playoff blueprint. We don't have a "3rd guy", but we have an entire second unit. Carlisle gonna have some fun this season.

---

Which begs the question, when/how do we get a 3rd guy? What kind of player would put us in contention for a title?

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I feel like Brogdon would have been a perfect fit for this team

awrollins said:

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South Platte said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Just did the math and the Mavs bench has outscored each opposing bench in all 4 games this season. Total Mavs bench pts is 186 vs 130 for opposing teams.

^Thats our playoff blueprint. We don't have a "3rd guy", but we have an entire second unit. Carlisle gonna have some fun this season.

---

Which begs the question, when/how do we get a 3rd guy? What kind of player would put us in contention for a title?

---

I feel like Brogdon would have been a perfect fit for this team

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On paper he's perfect but I think Delon Wright gives enough of what Brogdon does at a major discount. I want Brandon Ingram. Shooting and length.

That would be a great pickup

I don't see the obsession with needing a "third" guy. You have two all stars, one of them runs your offense. You need guys 3-8 to be able to knock down open shots. A couple of them to share ball handling duties because Luka is effective off the ball, and wont always be on the court.
We should just be looking at upgrading. Ie, if you had Finney-Smith but he could actually hit 3's at a good rate.

PatAg said:

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I don't see the obsession with needing a "third" guy. You have two all stars, one of them runs your offense. You need guys 3-8 to be able to knock down open shots. A couple of them to share ball handling duties because Luka is effective off the ball, and wont always be on the court.
We should just be looking at upgrading. Ie, if you had Finney-Smith but he could actually hit 3's at a good rate.

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It stems from San Antonio having 3, along with Miami, Cleveland, and Golden State (who had 4). Outside of Dallas 2011 and Toronto 2019, that seems to be the recipe for a title.

And you could argue that Dallas having Marion and Terry in their prime essentially had 3 as well.

You are going to need a really great 3-8 because Luka/KP are not even close to some of the other duos in the league

PatAg said:

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I don't see the obsession with needing a "third" guy. You have two all stars, one of them runs your offense. You need guys 3-8 to be able to knock down open shots. A couple of them to share ball handling duties because Luka is effective off the ball, and wont always be on the court.
We should just be looking at upgrading. Ie, if you had Finney-Smith but he could actually hit 3's at a good rate.

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It's just a media narrative. If you've listened to various NBA podcasts (Ringer, Dunc'd on, Pod dont lie, etc.), the general outlook on what this team could be was limited by the thought of "well who is their 3rd best player?"..which I agree with. I think the issue is more along the lines that the drop off between our 2nd best player and our 3rd best player (which, i honestly couldn't tell you who that is) is something that limits our ceiling. We don't need a third all-star/all-nba caliber guy, but someone like a Brogdon or Buddy Hield or Bogdonavic would thrust this team into title contention.

awrollins said:

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South Platte said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Just did the math and the Mavs bench has outscored each opposing bench in all 4 games this season. Total Mavs bench pts is 186 vs 130 for opposing teams.

^Thats our playoff blueprint. We don't have a "3rd guy", but we have an entire second unit. Carlisle gonna have some fun this season.

---

Which begs the question, when/how do we get a 3rd guy? What kind of player would put us in contention for a title?

---

I feel like Brogdon would have been a perfect fit for this team

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lol yes, that was discussed ad nauseum during free agency. He was my #1 wish.

Delon has been great tho.

South Platte said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Just did the math and the Mavs bench has outscored each opposing bench in all 4 games this season. Total Mavs bench pts is 186 vs 130 for opposing teams.

^Thats our playoff blueprint. We don't have a "3rd guy", but we have an entire second unit. Carlisle gonna have some fun this season.

---

Which begs the question, when/how do we get a 3rd guy? What kind of player would put us in contention for a title?

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I think we'll eventually flip some of our depth for someone. Brunson and/or Kleber have trade bait written all over them.

Not this year, obviously. This year will be about developing Luka/KP and just getting into the playoffs but next year, I could see a potential trade (if Brunson and Maxi continue to grow as they have).

M.C. Swag said:

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South Platte said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Just did the math and the Mavs bench has outscored each opposing bench in all 4 games this season. Total Mavs bench pts is 186 vs 130 for opposing teams.

^Thats our playoff blueprint. We don't have a "3rd guy", but we have an entire second unit. Carlisle gonna have some fun this season.

---

Which begs the question, when/how do we get a 3rd guy? What kind of player would put us in contention for a title?

---

I think we'll eventually flip some of our depth for someone. Brunson and/or Kleber have trade bait written all over them.

Not this year, obviously. This year will be about developing Luka/KP and just getting into the playoffs but next year, I could see a potential trade (if Brunson and Maxi continue to grow as they have).

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Brunson has been a really pleasant surprise. I feel like he could develop into a Brogdon type player.

Cheers for the mavs season thread having the most posts out of any Texas team.

There just wasn't anything remotely interesting to talk about until last season.

Just Dirk, a bunch of FA misses and plug and chug wings like OJ Mayo, Darren Collison etc. that just didn't work out.

I'm also not sure how much of a deep bench matters in the playoffs when the rotation always gets shortened.