The difference between this year’s iteration of the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks has been its defense, especially post-trade deadline.
Dallas’s front office acquired P.J. Washington from the Charlotte Hornets and Daniel Gafford from the Washington Wizards in February to add to rookie center Dereck Lively II. That trio put a combination of size, athleticism, rim protection and rebounding behind Luka that the Mavs have lacked during his tenure.
Combine that with the scoring burden Kyrie Irving can take off of him at times, and Doncic has the most balanced roster he’s ever played with.
Things were set up perfectly for the Mavs to take a nearly insurmountable 3-1 lead in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers. Dallas was playing at home and LA was without Kawhi Leonard. Even after trailing by 31 in the second quarter, the Mavericks clawed their way back into the game and had a chance to win late.
Then head coach Jason Kidd befuddlingly took some of his most important players off the floor and never put them back in, James Harden scored 15 points in the final period and Dallas blew what would have been one of the most incredible comebacks in NBA playoff history.
Jason Kidd’s late-game blunder cost the Dallas Mavericks a win in Game 4
The Mavericks finished the regular season 18th in defensive rating. That’s nothing to write home about. But last year, they finished 25th. In 2020-21, they were 21st.
For the 2023-24 regular season, Dallas finished 20th in the league in points allowed in the paint (51.0). Again, not a great number. But post-All-Star break with Gafford on board, things improved. A lot.
The Mavericks moved to 13th in defensive rating, and behind the rim protection of Gafford and Lively, jumped to sixth in points in the paint allowed (46.9).
Fast forward to Game 4, and Kidd seemingly ignored that defensive transformation. Gafford played 1 minute and 51 seconds in the fourth quarter. Lively played zero. Instead, Kidd went with the offensive-minded combo of Washington and Maxi Kleber.
The two played the entire fourth quarter and combined to score six points and grab two rebounds.
Harden scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the fourth to hold off Dallas’s comeback. All six of his made shots came in the paint with no Gafford or Lively.
Irving was the offensive catalyst for the Mavericks, nearly matching Harden bucket-for-bucket and finishing with 14 points in the final 12 minutes. Having Kleber and Washington on the court may have spaced the floor, but with how Kyrie was playing and the difficulty of the shots he was hitting, it probably didn’t matter.
What they were missing was any semblance of rim protection to deter Harden.
Kidd’s rotation in the most crucial moments of Game 4 allowed the Clippers’ offense to hum and stave off an all-time comeback. His baffling decision to keep both Gafford and Lively off the floor likely cost the Mavericks a 3-1 series lead. Instead, the Clippers tied the series 2-2, and now both teams travel to LA for Game 5.
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