The Dallas Mavericks came into Sunday night’s game with an 0-2 record, looking to get on the right track against the Toronto Raptors. Hardwood Classics Night afforded us the gift of beautiful green throwback jerseys and the original logo gracing center court, which may have inspired the players to win 139-129 in something that felt a touch like a must win.
Before we dive into the grades for this game, we invite you to check out the Comments section of the grades pieces we wrote for the Spurs and Wizards games where you can see good discussion between us (myself and Sudarshan Venkatraman, respectively) and you, our readers, regarding how we go about deciding on grades.
One change we’re going to try out for at least this game is displaying the numerical equivalent of our alphabetical grading system alongside the letter grade. As always, sound off in the Comments section. Let’s get to the grades!
22 PTS / 4 REB / 4 AST / 0 STL / 1 BLK – 29 MIN
Flagg looked significantly better in this game than in the previous two, though a peek only at the box score may not be indicative of that assessment. He committed too many fouls and wasn’t necessarily a beast on the boards, but seemed more comfortable and took much better care of the ball. It felt like he took a nice little leap forward in only his third game, finding teammates, throwing down numerous dunks and hitting a big fourth quarter three as the Raptors were making slight inroads. His shooting was solid, he converted all four of his free throws and played solid defense despite the fouls.
10 PTS / 4 REB / 3 AST / 0 STL / 1 BLK – 20 MIN
Part of me wanted to grade Thompson a bit lower, but for 20 minutes of play, I’m not sure he could have given the team much more than he did. He was aggressive shooting the ball and converted 57% of his shots (4-for-7 with 2-for-4 from three), even pulling down a disproportionate number of boards. He didn’t feature much late in the game, and this evening may be evidence he should be coming off the bench so Flagg can play the two guard and Russell can start, but that’s a story for another day. In limited time, Thompson gave the team good production before letting Christie take the reigns en route to a nice nigh of his own.
17 PTS / 7 REB / 5 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 32 MIN
Washington leads the charge in oddities that get the benefit of the doubt for a higher grade. Although he didn’t shoot lights out (6-for-14), he did a few things you wouldn’t expect that deserve recognition. Case in point, he doled out five assists, second only to point guard D’Angelo Russell. He made strong plays, going through contact to finish and get to the free throw line, setting the tone for aggressive offense and defense in this one. If he dropped 17/7/5 every night on reasonably efficient shooting, everyone in Dallas would be over the moon with excitement. A block or two wouldn’t have hurt, but overall Washington is off to a great start this season.
25 PTS / 10 REB / 3 AST / 3 STL / 2 BLK – 34 MIN
Davis can be a bit of a conundrum. He racks up stats in a way that makes it almost look easy. He didn’t seem to impact the game as much as he did, but a closer look shows he was all but dominant. He dropped another double-double, turned away shots, got steals, was part of the newfound passing and shot a ridiculous 11-for-14. He falls short of the top mark, not as a criticism, but purely because he’s shown in his hall of fame career he can actually do more. Still, this was an incredible stat-stuffing effort and nothing about it was empty.
4 PTS / 7 REB / 4 AST / 0 STL / 3 BLK – 21 MIN
Lively did not play poorly, but he just didn’t impact the game as much as would be expected. He hit both of his shots and had three emphatic blocks, and even dished out four assists, all of which bolstered his grade a bit, but only four points to go with two turnovers while committing three fouls in limited time, leaves a bit to be desired. Also being part of Raptors’ big man Sandro Mamukelashvili going out of his mind didn’t help Lively’s cause. Lively is better than this, but can likely fix things easily by committing fewer fouls and staying on the floor. The rest will take care of itself.
D’ANGELO RUSSELL: A- {8}
24 PTS / 6 REB / 3 AST / 3 STL / 0 BLK – 29 MIN
Russell broke out in this one and played a big part in the outcome. Getting playing time was a key factor in his performance, and he made the most of his minutes. His shooting efficiency (8-for-18) could still be better, but after starting 0-for-7, he then went a blistering 8-for-11, so the shooting struggles may be resolved. He had three steals to go along with six assists and confidently nailed a big three in the fourth quarter to keep the game out of reach as the Raptors were trying for one last push. If he can produce like this every night, fans are going to feel just a little bit better as they await Kyrie Irving’s return.
17 PTS / 2 REB /2 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 27 MIN
His game didn’t necessarily smack of top marks, but if the Mavs can get 17 points out of Christie on 5-for-8 shooting including 3-for-5 from three, they’re going to have some good outcomes ahead of them. Christie looked confident all night and made some savvy little plays that won’t hit the box score. He turned it over twice, but dished a pair of assists and got a steal while hitting all four of his free throws. Terrific game for him off the bench.
12 PTS / 6 REB / 3 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – 25 MIN
Marshall did what he does best. Played solid defense, committing only a single foul, passed the ball well, and got himself if the best position for success. For a guy who basically never has a play run for him, he puts himself in position to succeed. In only 25 minutes, he hit all four of his shots, all four of his free throws, out-rebounded everyone who wasn’t a starter (and out-rebounded two of them as well) and made a few timely buckets of the and-one variety. Not your typical “A” grade, but the shooting and timeliness of some of his buckets give him a bump.
Dallas looked much more engaged than they did in the first two games, with better pace, a handful of nice alley-oops and an overall feel that the five players on the court hadn’t met each other for the first time just prior to tipoff. Cooper Flagg looked like he took a big leap in his general feel for the NBA game and players like Derek Lively, Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall appeared more like their best selves. Despite once again not starting a true point guard, Dallas‘ players clearly got the memo that the ball needed to move a lot more than it had been in the first two outings. One of many such demonstrations of this understanding was when D’Angelo Russell grabbed a rebound and passed it to Cooper Flagg who was already past half court and needed but a single dribble before taking off for a thunderous dunk and and-one.
Oddly, Dallas’ expected calling card – defense – was still lacking significantly for big parts of the game. After giving up 60 first half points to the Spurs and 58 first half points to the Wizards, the Mavs gave up an even worse 66 first half points to the Raptors. This trend needs to stop immediately. Turnovers were also a problem yet again, with Dallas registering eight in the first quarter alone.
Overall, the question is whether Dallas just slept through their first two games, or somehow unlocked a multitude of doors since Friday. Whatever the case, the team is trending positive, in that they have improved progressively since the opener last Wednesday. Even in the microcosm of this single game, they played better as the game went on. If they can keep this trend going, one can begin to see something that is a good bit more fun and capable than what we saw over the past week. I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.
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