Coming into the new NBA season, some people thought the Dallas Mavericks could be a dark-horse team in the Western Conference. They have an intriguing roster that features superstar big man Anthony Davis, a strong overall front line and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, who is one of the most tantalizing rookies to enter the league in recent memory.
But Dallas has stumbled in its first two games of the season. It was embarrassed 125-92 by the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, as Victor Wembanyama made a total mockery of its defensive schemes. Then, on Friday, it lost by 10 points to the Washington Wizards, a team that will likely be one of the worst in the NBA this season.
Is it time for the Mavericks and their fans to panic? Not exactly. Davis told the media that he’s not concerned and that the team needs to make some tweaks and improvements on the defensive end.
"Zero. It's two games. Just got to be better defensively. I think we're gonna play the big lineup…We've just got to do a better job with our switching, our low man…We've gotta do a better job on the defensive end, I think that's where our biggest problem is."
As of this writing, the Mavs rank 19th in defensive rating, and even worse, they’re 26th in rebounding percentage, which means that even when they did get defensive stops in their first two games, they haven’t gotten the basketball back. They also rank last in opponents’ fast-break points per game.
Interestingly, the numbers say that offense is an even bigger problem for them right now.
Davis averaged 24.5 points in the first two games of the season, but he’s shooting just 39% from the field. As a team, Dallas is shooting 40.4% from the field through two games, which is dead last, and it also ranks last with a putrid 95.2 offensive rating.
A big problem is the torn ACL star point guard Kyrie Irving suffered late last season that is still sidelining him. Dallas picked up D’Angelo Russell during the offseason as a stopgap solution, but Russell made just one of his nine shot attempts and mustered six assists through two games.
Coach Jason Kidd has tried using Flagg as the Mavericks’ main ball-handler at times, but he’s off to a poor start. In fact, he had more turnovers (eight) than assists (six) in their first two games.
It is extremely early in the season, which means they can turn things around. But already, their fans are growing disgusted, and they once again directed their anger at a familiar target when they chanted “Fire Nico” during Friday’s game.
Those calls will only become more deafening unless the Mavs start winning games in bunches.
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