Can the team avoid an emotional letdown?

The Mavericks secured arguably their best win of the season on Saturday, a 134-132 shootout with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

They’re still 10-14 and had many breakdowns, especially defensively. But for a team struggling as they have been, who wouldn’t welcome that? If Luka and the teams reaction was any indication, they certainly did.

With the league-worst Wolves coming to town, that needs to be put aside. All sports fans know of the dreaded “trap” game, well…this is a perfect example of that. It would be easy to dismiss the Wolves, but as a team struggling to keep their head above water, the Mavericks can’t afford to do that.

We shall see if they bring the necessary energy.

Will the shotmaking continue?

There have been many issues that have plagued the Mavericks this year. Covid, injuries, inconsistent defense, big depth, etc…

Perhaps the biggest problem though, has been the utter inability to hit open three-point shots. Playing with Luka, you’ll get plenty of them. But up until the Golden State two-game set, the Mavericks were dead last in the league, shooting a hideous 33%.

In the two Golden State games however, those numbers began to climb. Dallas made 41 of their 97 three-point attempts, good enough for 42%. And they needed every last one of them, considering how their defense let them down.

Will this trend hold? It remains to be seen. The Mavericks were do for a positive regression in the shooting department, but it’s not as if Golden State is some defensive juggernaut.

Hopefully it was the start of something. We’ll just have to wait and see.

More Jalen Brunson involvement?

The Mavericks did okay in the 2018 draft, wouldn’t you say?

Luka Doncic is obviously a bonafide superstar. They didn’t need another great selection to make that draft an A+ showing. So that means you can consider Jalen Brunson, what? The cherry on top?

”JB” was already a solid rotation piece, but it seems he’s blossoming into something more. On the year, he’s averaging 11.6 points on .52/.41/.89 shooting splits with a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

That’s fantastic efficiency and anytime more is asked of him, he seems to raise his level further. Everyone in the first unit is there for a reason, but this guys needs more time.

I’m not real sure where or how to expand his role though. That’s something for the staff to consider. But they’ve got something here. They should be attempting to nurture and groom it and just maybe, they could add other young foundational piece.