The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat 115-90 tonight in an easy win for the home team. Luka Doncic had one game himself, scoring 34 goals, grabbing 12 boards and dishing out seven assists. Victor Oladipo led Miami with 20 points from the bench.
The Heat’s lack of credible guard play allowed the Mavericks to look as good on defense as they have all season. The Heat shot a whopping 20% from 3 while the Mavericks, thanks in part to Reggie Bullock and Luka Doncic, shot 47.4% from beyond the arc. The Heat made a run in the second quarter and managed to finish the first half 9 points down but failed to hit the side of a barn to start the second half. After that, the game was never really in question and the Mavericks were able to pull off an easy win.
Dwight Powell’s energy was huge
The Heat lack the kind of perimeter players that can throw your defenses into crisis and force them into steady rotation. Oftentimes they rely on a self beating defense to generate clean looks. Discipline and attention to detail are sometimes enough to bring Miami’s offense to a halt. Tonight, Dwight Powell’s energy and drive made things difficult for the Heat. The Heat were determined to score in the paint to start the game, as evidenced by the fact that their first jump shot may have come midway through the first quarter.
The Mavericks, on the other hand, shot well from 3 and took an early lead. Christian Wood is a monster on offense but his inability to rotate in time and simply be in the right place at the right time could have hurt the prospects of this game. He’s still a valuable player, but he still has a long way to go to be a defensive force.
The Mavericks Defense won the game
Shooting will come and go, but consistent defense can carry you through a long regular season. Unlike last year, the team’s focus on defense has fluctuated. You can often see teammates look at each other in disgust when opponents make uncontested layups or hit wide-open 3s. That wasn’t the case tonight. Even Luka looked more committed in defense tonight and Jeff Van Gundy made a comment on that. If the team is bought on defense and can shoot over 40% from three, that’s usually a recipe for victory.
Reggie Bullock is back…hopefully
Death, Taxes and Reggie Bullock remember how to shoot in January. For the past 4 seasons, Bullock’s shooting splits early in the season have been notably worse than his numbers as of January. We all cursed Bullock’s name at some point this season because we remember how impressive Bullock was to us in the postseason. After another 5 for 6 nights from the deep, his annual shooting resurgence could be huge for the Mavericks as they seek to climb the Western Conference standings.
You can listen our latest podcast episode in the player embedded below, and to make sure you don’t miss a single one, subscribe to the Mavs Moneyball podcast feed at iTunes, Spotify, stapler, Google Podcasts, Pocketcastsor cast box.
You can watch our After Dark Recap Podcasts, Spotify Live Recordings, Moneyball Minute Shows and Guest Shows on the Mavs Moneyball Podcast Feed. Please subscribe, rate and review.