The Dallas Mavericks have now lost seven-straight games. After a rough 122-92 loss to the Toronto Raptors, there was a glaring problem that most Mavs fans had outlined and even Coach Jason Kidd noticed. It was their shot selection from beyond-the-arc that bogged them down and they need a solution from two guys: Max Christie and Klay Thompson.
Dallas' conundrum from downtown
If there was an NBA fan from the outside looking in, it would be common sense to deduce that the Raptors who shot 27.8% from three-point range were going to lose. Unfortunately, the Mavs shot a horrendous 16.7% from beyond-the-arc on 30 attempts which is an insane low for modern basketball standards, let alone the association.
Coach Kidd was clearly not pleased with this outcome and he pointed to his two shooting guards. The Mavs head honcho pointed out that he needed more from both Christie and Thompson, via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
"I think he’s taking what’s there. If they’re closing out, he’s trying to drive the ball and then if he’s open, shooting it. I thought he got off to a really good start in Orlando. Klay is the one that is taking and making. We would like Max to do the same," Kidd said.
Christie only got a single field goal despite attempting 11 shots from the field. He also missed all seven of his three-point attempts while playing 26 minutes for the Mavs. Thompson, on the other hand, had a similar problem. The veteran spot-up shooter made two of his 10 shot attempts from the field while only knocking down a single three-pointer despite attempting seven of them.
If this problem persists, the Mavs could be looking to sink as far as the 14th seed in the Western Conference standings by the end of the year. Thankfully, Coach Kidd has diagnosed this problem early which means they could patch it up in the remaining games enroute to success in the 2026-27 season.
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