It is true that this type of matches (and results) can enter into normality in a regular season long, sometimes slightly tedious, full of long trips, many hours by plane and other hours by bus. But it is also obvious that, right now, these Mavericks are light years away from a version of the Nuggets whose roof, and this is good for them, is uncertain. If Nikola Jokic stays at this level and Jamal Murray comes back safely from a complicated injury, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see the Colorado franchise fighting for it all. On the other hand, in the always ultra-competitive West and with still many unknowns (Lakers at the helm), it is too early to ensure something like that. The competition is more open than ever after a year marked by conditions and injuries. And it is difficult to observe a clear dominator who can hang the band of favorite without blinking. There they are, at most, Bucks and Nets. And we are already seeing in what situation the seconds are. Well that.
What is clear is that the Mavericks will not be in that group of teams that can surprise and it is difficult to think, except surprise (capital letter, right now), that they will be in chore. And yes, the record is identical, still, to those who have been his rivals (3-2), but the rivals have been of less caliber, the schedule that touches them will be more complicated and the team is, simply, worse than that of its counterparts in the West. Without structural and formal changes in the workforce, full of deficiencies and monopolized by the personalism of you already know whoTexans have been content to please their star ending her relationship with Rick Carlisle and clean the offices of the enormous influence of Haralabos Voulgaris, which had the owner, Mark Cuban, eating out of his hand. But the team is, in essence, the same, with a new coach who can help bring a different discourse but is a far cry from his predecessor. And a level of talent, in technique and in tactics, far removed from the top of the competition.
The duel against the Nuggets shows the worst version of a team worse than its rival. But one of those versions, after all. And the data, beyond a game that has about 20 minutes to spare from the viewer’s point of view, says it all: 75 points (last season they averaged more than 112), 12 in the third quarter, from a huge embarrassment, 29.5% shooting from the field (since February 27, 2009, no Nuggets rival shot that badly) and 21.6% from 3-pointers (8-for-37, a ridiculous hideous). In addition, a clear and resounding inferiority in the rebound (51-36), half of his assists than the Nuggets (14 for 28) and 15 turnovers. Josh Green, the only member of the Mavericks who finished with a +/- positive, scored 0 points in less than 17 minutes. And the defense was a joke against a superior rival, who drowned them with an orderly attack and without great fanfare., which did not take much to punish his rival. Oh, and 29 points in the entire second half. It could go on, but it would never end.
Jokic, again the leader
Within a very ugly game to watch, which only had some emotion during the first half (the Mavericks went ahead three times on the scoreboard before sinking), Nikola Jokic emerged as, once again, the leader of his team. And it was not an anthological performance, but enough given the inconsistency of his rival: 11 points, 16 rebounds and 8 assists, with +26 on the court in just 25 minutes, with the entire last quarter sitting on the bench as the advantage was already so shameful for his rival and reassuring for the locals. He was accompanied by a bit of everything: 12 goals by Michael Porter Jr., 13 by Aaron Gordon, 14 by Jeff Green, 17 + 5 + 6 by Will Barton (with 27 minutes, the most played of the Nuggets), and good minutes from Facundo Campazzo, very participative in the collective defense that drowned Luka Doncic. 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals for the Argentine in almost 18 minutes of play.
And the Mavericks? Nothing at all. Not a single place to scratch, nothing to save, no reaction from Jason Kidd, and a collapse as sovereign as it is explainable: that single Kidd plan, based on the success of its leader, disappears as soon as Doncic’s connection with his companions is cut off and he is isolated from everything else. The Slovenian had, like his team, an unfortunate day: 16 goals (5 of 18 in shots), 6 rebounds and 4 assists, -32 with him on the track and absence, of course, of participation in a last quarter in which the Mavericks they scored 7 points in the last 5 minutes, the usual trend. In short, a game to forget about a team that will have to change a lot in order to not only be able to opt for something else. Simply, to make it look like they can. In those are the Mavericks, a team that is played a lot this year. And if it does not go forward, it will fall backwards. A sensation similar to the one they suffered against the Nuggets. An ordeal.
