The Dallas Mavericks were struggling to put the ball in the hoop in a blowout loss against Golden State on Sunday, and their three-game winning streak came to a close.
The Mavericks are in a rough two-game road stretch right now. They'll have to keep their heads up on what will be back-to-back emotional road games. Against the Golden State Warriors, the Mavs had to deal with Andre Iguodala's jersey retirement, which gave the Dubs motivation. Now, they'll have to deal with Luka Doncic playing against the Mavs for the first time in his career tomorrow, as Dallas travels to Los Angeles.
This was marked on each team calendar since the infamous trade that took place in early February. Many fans seem to still not make sense of the move, and while there are many fans out there who might have felt this way for a long time, the injuries to the Mavs' big men seem to be making progress.
Dallas increased their big man depth at the trade deadline by trading for Anthony Davis, but they lost guard depth. Quentin Grimes was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caleb Martin, who's proven to be a 3-and-D forward with plenty of playoff experience, but losing Grimes is a bigger loss than fans realize.
Mavs losing Doncic and Grimes leaves a major shot-creation hole
Following the trade, there's one major subtraction to the Mavs offense, and while many think that it has to do with Doncic no longer on the court, it's deeper than that, as the Mavs offense was exposed against Golden State, with potential to be exposed the same way against other teams.
Grimes' stint won't go unnoticed, as he looked to be having some of his best days on the basketball court in a Maverick uniform.
His shot-creating skills to be a go-getter on the court meant that the Mavs had multiple guys to get their own if they had to improvise on a late shot clock. This was a hole left wide open in the Golden State game, as guys looked to be lost on the court, with teams hounding Kyrie Irving on double teams leaving him with no outlet to turn to.
To lose Doncic was obviously huge, as his all-around offensive awareness was able to help create good looks anywhere for anyone on the court. His skills are missed greatly, but it was Grimes who added an extra piece to help create his own shot, and that was missed in what turned out to be a blowout loss.
Grimes showed that he is much more than a 3-and-D player during his time in Dallas, and his abiloty to score off the dribble was incredibly underrated. He has already been missed on the Mavericks, and he has played well in Philadelphia thus far.
With Irving at 32 years old, him being swarmed on double teams all night may not be the best for his stamina, and having more young shot-creators was necessary for the Mavs to get by. This means that more screen and rolls with Davis once he returns can make up for the lack of shot-creating.
