SAN FRANCISCO — Given that the Mavericks’ last two losses to Phoenix were by margins of 20 and 30 points, it’s wrong to say this team hasn’t been here before as they try to correct the mistakes made in a 25-point Game 1 loss to Golden State. From my vantage point, which admittedly was about 30 rows up in one corner of the immaculate Chase Center, this is an easy one.
More Dinwiddie. Lots more Dinwiddie.
Whether Dallas evens the series here Friday night or regains its footing in home games Sunday and Tuesday at American Airlines Center, it’s time to get back to the team’s roots. By that, of course I mean the Kristaps Porzingis trade of Feb. 11 that shipped the enigmatic unicorn to Washington and changed the fabric of a fifth-place Western Conference team. From that moment forward, the Mavericks went small and dared opponents to handle their 3-point shooting blitzes.
Dinwiddie delivered right after the trade in a fashion that even Mavericks management had to be stunned. A career 32% shooter from 3-point range, he hit more than 45% in his first month as Dallas ran off a 10-2 record and rocketed into the West’s upper tier. The club was 15-4 anytime he scored in double figures.
In the playoffs, Dinwiddie has been forced into a bit of a vanishing act. You may recall he averaged 19.7 in the first three games when Luka Doncic was out with injury. Once Luka returned, and the team was determined to keep Jalen Brunson’s hot hand involved, Dinwiddie took a back seat and averaged 8.5 points over an eight-game stretch with a low of two in the Game 5 loss to the Suns.
But in the two elimination games with Phoenix and the opener against Golden State, Dinwiddie has scored 20.7 points off the bench in 23 minutes. That’s instant offense this team has to have in order to trade punches with Golden State. He has made more than 60% of his 3-point shots in the last three games. In a word, he’s on fire and head coach Jason Kidd either needs to start Dinwiddie Friday in place of Dorian Finney-Smith or at least get Dinwiddie back into 30-minutes territory.
You sacrifice some defense when Dinwiddie replaces Finney-Smith or Reggie Bullock on the wing, and I realize the Mavericks are facing the highest scoring team in the playoffs. But while trying to slow down the Warrior machine you also have to score some points, and 87 isn’t going to cut it under any circumstances. Finney-Smith has slowed his production, averaging just 5.5 points the last four games, and if the Warriors’ quickness means Dallas needs more create-your-own shot types than just spot-up three players, then the club definitely needs more Dinwiddie.
He scored 36 points the first time Kidd started him after the trade. Who knows what energy he might bring in an expanded role, whether it’s as a starter of off the bench?
Dinwiddie sees it all in somewhat fascinating mathematical terms.
“We were 11 for 48 from three, and maybe eight of those were bad,’’ he said. “So that means you got 40 good looks at three. You at least want to hit 15, 16 of them. Five more threes, 15 more points. During the course of the game we were down about 20, so that puts you in the game.
“One of the best parts about coach Kidd and Luka are their ability to adjust and adapt, so I’m expecting us to do the same heading into Game 2.’’
We have reached the stage in the NBA where blowout losses mean absolutely nothing. The Mavericks were 30 points worse than Phoenix in Game 5 but they were 30 points better in the first half of Game 7. In the same arena. The Warriors’ most recent loss was by 39 points to Memphis in Game 5. Over in the East, the Boston Celtics repeatedly lose games in which they have big leads and still find ways to keep advancing.
So I don’t know that losing to the Warriors by 25 is any different from losing to them by 5. The Mavericks have a steady hand guiding them right now, and who among us knew that Kidd would be providing that in his first season here after enduring some turbulent times on the bench in Milwaukee and Brooklyn?
There are plenty of things they can try to change. The one you can count on is that Doncic won’t be limited to 20 points again Friday night. It was Luka’s third lowest-scoring playoff game (out of 24) and second-worst shooting game (6 of 18). He and the Mavericks tend to bounce back from these performances.
But a 30-minute night for Dinwiddie, who has regained the hot touch he unleashed after arriving from Washington three months ago, could go a long way towards getting the Mavericks back where they want to be in the Western Conference finals.
