With Paolo Banchero out of the lineup for the Orlando Magic due to injury, the Dallas Mavericks were able to beat the Magic defiantly on Sunday evening at American Airlines Center, as Dallas won 108-85. Dallas had a really balanced attack offensively in this contest and got great two-way play out of both of their centers in Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, as the big-man duo finished with 29 combined points and 19 combined rebounds in this contest.
The Magic suffered from a shot creation aspect without Banchero in this game, and Dallas’ bigs did a great job at policing the paint in the instances Magic players were able to get an attempt on the rim.
Just like last Thursday night's loss against Houston, Dallas struggled to get Klay Thompson open looks in this game and Orlando didn’t elect to trap off Thompson whatsoever in this contest.
However, even though Thompson only finished with nine points off of 4-10 shooting from the field in this game, Thompson wasn’t forcing anything and played within the flow of the offense.
Luka Doncic answers Jason Kidd's call to start games better
Dallas doesn’t have a Klay Thompson problem at all, but they did have an issue with getting off to good starts offensively heading into this game, particularly in the case of Luka Doncic.
Last Thursday against the Rockets epitomized this issue that has plagued Doncic throughout various points last season as well as the first few games of this season, as Doncic forced tough looks from outside and was inefficient in the first half of that contest.
However, in the first half against the Magic on Sunday night, Doncic had 25 points on 9-14 shooting, as he was canning stepback 3-pointers from outside routinely and was dialed with his footwork in the post.
For the Mavericks to reach their potential this season, Doncic needs to get off to better starts like this more frequently so Dallas’ offense can get into rhythm quicker. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd stressed the importance of this in a pregame interview as well, and Kidd’s wishes were granted after Dallas was up 65-40 at halftime.
Being that this game was on the first night of a back-to-back, it’s extremely relieving that Dallas was able to get their first blowout victory of the season on a night like this. Doncic ended with 32 points in this contest, though he easily could’ve had more if he didn’t have the luxury of getting subbed out early since Dallas was up by so much.
Barring Doncic, none of Dallas’ other starters played over 29 minutes in this game. Hopefully, Dallas taking care of business handily this evening will lead to them being slightly more energized when they take on a hungry 2-4 Indiana Pacers team tomorrow night on the second night of this back-to-back.
The Mavericks are talented enough to squeak out wins when Doncic gets off to rough starts if he’s able to reconcile himself in the second half like we’ve seen this season, but Doncic can do himself and the team plenty of favors by emphasizing getting off to hot starts like he did tonight, as the benefits are typically immense.
