The NBA regular season has entered the sprint stage, and the pattern of the East and West is changing rapidly. After experiencing reinforcements in the mid-season trade market and buyout market, the teams set sail again, and a few are happy and a few are sad. The Bucks and Heat in the East, the Thunder, Timberwolves and other teams in the West are full of harvest and unstoppable; The Suns and Mavericks in the West, the Knicks, the 76ers and other teams in the East are experiencing the pains of injury and running-in, and they know their own warmth and coldness. Especially the Dallas Mavericks, they sent away old players such as Gwee, Curry Jr., Holmes, etc., in the middle of the season, and brought in new signings such as Gafford and PJ Washington. It's just that the ideal is very plump, the reality is very skinny, and the Mavericks have experienced a short honeymoon period after the original form, and the future is worrying.
Doncic is the pride of the world, and the new driver of the Mavericks after the retirement of the old driver Dirk, carrying the championship dream of thousands of Mavericks fans. Doncic is indeed handsome and capable of playing, but two fists are hard to beat four hands, and everyone knows that if the Mavericks want to regain their glory, they have to equip Doncic with helpers. For this reason, Cuban worked hard to change the people around Doncic one after another within the scope of his ability, and made up for what he lacked! Especially after the Mavericks brought in Irving to build the Eastern European combination and gave them big contracts one after another, the team has no way back. Since the debut of new signings Gafford and PJ Washington, the new Mavericks lineup has won a wave of 7 consecutive wins at home, and once rushed into the top six in the West; It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, and the Mavericks lost 4 of their last 5 games, and their ranking fell directly to 9th in the West. In the process, the Mavericks were either defeated or fell off the chain at a critical moment to bury the good game.
Let's first take a look at what the Mavericks have experienced in this wave of 5 games and 4 losses. On February 26, against the Pacers, the Mavericks were defeated and suffered a 22-point defeat; On February 28, playing the Cavaliers away, the Mavericks once established a 10-point lead, but collapsed at the last moment, and suffered a two-point defeat by Strus; On March 2, they challenged the Celtics away, and the Green Army was defeated, suffering a 28-point defeat; Playing the 76ers on March 4, the Mavericks once led by as many as 11 points, and then collapsed in the final quarter, losing by 4 points! This is the recent lone ranger, it is easy to let the cooked duck fly away in good times, and it is often a mess in adversity.
I don't deny that the Mavericks have played continuously on the road in the past and the schedule is quite dense, and I don't deny that the Cavaliers and the Green Army are the top teams in the East armed to the teeth, but we also have to admit that the way the Mavericks lost was too unsightly. It's not so much that the opponent is too strong, but that they have a lot of problems of their own. On the one hand, the Mavericks have just completed a roster reshuffle, and the previous winning streak has eaten up the schedule and home dividends, and Kidd's arrangement of the lineup rotation is not clear enough, especially how to allocate the playing time of Lysley, Gafford and Kleber, he still has a lot of "scientific work" to do; On the other hand, the offensive strength and defensive weakness are the ancestral DNA of the Mavericks, and once they can't maintain continuity on the offensive end, they tend to collapse.
The Mavericks struggled, and the Eastern European group really did their best. During the 5 games and 4 losses, the Eastern European combination was able to hit an average of 63 per game6 points +142 rebounds +142 assists across the board, in which Doncic averages 36 per game6 points +98 rebounds +11With 4 assists, Irving is averaging 27 points per game +44 rebounds +28 assists. In the face of the team's embarrassment, Doncic took the initiative to take responsibility, he said: The team lacks a sense of energy, the responsibility lies with me, we must maintain an optimistic and positive attitude to meet the next game; Owen also said bluntly in an interview: We will not make excuses for losing, we know where the team is now, we still have more than 20 games to play, and we are done.
Mavericks coach Kidd hit the nail on the head in an interview: "Offense is our defense, and when we can score, we're one of the best teams in the league; Conversely, when we struggle to score, we tend to be one of the worst teams and do nothing on the defensive end! I have to say that Kidd has seen the reality clearly, and offense is the killer weapon of the Mavericks, and we can't expect Kidd to change the defensive DNA of the Mavericks in a short period of time. Currently, the Mavericks have a 34-27 record and are in 8th place in the West, one win behind the Kings (34-25) in 6th place in the West and 1 ahead of the Warriors (32-28) in 9th place in the West5 wins. With only 19 games left in the regular season, it is difficult for the Mavericks to take a step forward, and the slightest carelessness may fall into the abyss from which they will never recover. At least judging from the current situation, the success or failure of the Mavericks still depends on what the Eastern European combination can become, and this newly shuffled Western giant team may still be difficult to do this season! Fans, what do you think about this? Leave me a review**.
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