Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 9 – NBA Blog

On the Warriors and Mavericks Western Conference Finals matchup

The 2022 Western Conference Finals, featuring the Golden State Warriors against the Dallas Mavericks, begin tonight. Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle on the Mavs:

Luka Doncic, the sort of generational talent who can drag mediocre teams to first-round exits through sheer excellence, is now balling lock-step with his supporting cast, most of whom are stepping up at critical moments. The first round was a Jalen Brunson coming out party. Dorian Finney-Smith, who has spent years percolating in the organization, is a rangy wing with great defensive chops who is shooting the 3 at just under a 40% clip. Reggie Bullock is a more than serviceable professional basketball player with cool hair (he’s shooting it pretty well too). And then there’s Maxi Kleber, the pesky floor-stretching German big who can and probably will punish this often disengaged Warriors team.

The Mavericks in general are built to punish the disengaged, to chase down the weak links again and again, as they showed so memorably against Chris Paul, going at him disrespectfully hard, eventually grinding him to future Hall of Fame dust. They will score off of sloppy turnovers. They have, and will again, put Steph Curry in a half-court dungeon. The Warriors will need to be crafty, perhaps even mean-spirited with their adjustments. Jason Kidd, who will be barking on the sideline like some mix of a Sea Lion and the singer of Sleaford Mods, will make sure his guys know exactly who to exploit, when to trap, how they’ll ram the ball down Golden State’s gullet, and all the best places in Oakland to get a steak. He’s a great communicator, Jason Kidd.

NBA fines Dallas Mavericks $25,000 for bench decorum reasons

The Dallas Mavericks organization has been fined $25,000 for violating league rules regarding team bench decorum, it was announced today by Byron Spruell, President, League Operations.

Per the league, “on multiple occasions, several players and a member of the coaching staff stood away from Dallas’ team bench and were on or encroaching upon the playing court during game action in the Mavericks’ 129-109 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 of their conference semifinals playoff series May 4 at Footprint Center.”

Donovan Mitchell good to go for Mavs at Jazz Game 6

Donovan Mitchell, star guard for the Utah Jazz, said that he will be available for Game 6 against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, a day after an MRI on his left hamstring came back negative.

Mitchell stated he’s suffering from soreness as a result of a bilateral quadriceps contusion, as diagnosed by the team’s medical staff. He did, however, state unequivocally that he would be able to play in Thursday’s home game against the Jazz, who are in danger of being eliminated.

Via ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks sign guard Brandon Knight to second 10-day contract

The Dallas Mavericks have signed guard Brandon Knight to a second 10-day contract under the COVID-related hardship allowance.

Knight, 6-foot-2, 182 pounds, signed a 10-day contract on Dec. 23 and played in three games for the Mavericks in December before entering health and safety protocols. He averaged 10.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 18.2 minutes per game, including an 18-point performance that helped lead Dallas to a 132-117 victory over Portland on Dec. 27.

The eight-year veteran holds career averages of 14.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 29.4 minutes in 449 games (349 starts) with Detroit, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Cleveland, Houston and Dallas. He played for Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd as a member of the Bucks in 2014-15.

The Miami native was taken eighth overall by Detroit in the 2011 NBA Draft and went on to earn NBA All-Rookie First Team honors for the Pistons in 2011-12. He became the first Pistons player named to the All-Rookie First Team since Grant Hill in 1994-95 (Hill shared NBA Rookie of the Year honors with Kidd that year).

Knight will wear No. 20 for the Mavericks.

Thunder and Mavericks will play Oct. 5, 2022 preseason game in Tulsa

The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to return to Tulsa, Oklahoma during the 2022 NBA preseason, the team announced today. The Thunder will host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 7 p.m. inside the BOK Center.

The matchup will be the Thunder’s 13th preseason game in Tulsa and the third time Oklahoma City and Dallas will face off there.

Kevin Durant and Luka Doncic named NBA Players of Week for Week 21

The NBA announced today that Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, March 7, through Sunday, March 13.

The honor is Durant’s third as a Net and the 29th Player of the Week award of his career.

Durant led Brooklyn to a perfect 3-0 week, recording averages of 30.7 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the field, 36.4 percent shooting from 3-point range and 87.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line, 7.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 38.2 minutes per game. Durant was one of two players in the East to average at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists for the week and finished the week ranked first in the East in plus/minus (+53), sixth in points per game, seventh in minutes per game and eighth in assists per game. Durant opened the week by totaling 14 points, three rebounds and seven assists in 40 minutes in Brooklyn’s 132-121 road victory over the Charlotte Hornets on March 8. He followed up that effort by registering 25 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 32 minutes in a 129-100 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on March 10. Durant finished the week with a brilliant performance in a 110-107 home victory over the New York Knicks yesterday, scoring a Nets season-high 53 points to go along with six rebounds, nine assists and two steals in 43 minutes. The 53 points were the second-most scored in a game in Durant’s career, trailing only a 54-point performance with Oklahoma City versus Golden State on Jan. 17, 2014. The 53 points also represented the third-most points in a game in Nets NBA history, trailing only Deron Williams’ 57 points on March 4, 2012, at Charlotte and Kyrie Irving’s 54 points on Jan. 31, 2020, versus Chicago.

As for Doncic, this marks the second time this season (Feb. 7-13, 2022) and the sixth time in his career he has received the honor (Nov. 18-24, 2019; Jan. 4-10, 2021; March 29-April 4, 2021; April 19-25, 2021). Dirk Nowitzki (16 times) is the only Maverick to win the award more times.

Dončić (6-7, 230) has now been named Western Conference Player of the Week in two of the last three weeks, in addition to being named Western Conference Player of the Month for February. Dončić led the Mavericks to a 3-1 week with averages of 30.5 points (.494 FG), 11.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks in 36.5 minutes.

The 23-year-old began the week by posting game highs of 35 points (12-23 FG, 5-11 3FG, 6-7 FT), 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals to go with 1 block in 38 minutes in the Mavericks’ 111-103 victory over Utah on Mar. 7. It marked his first career game recording 35-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, 7-plus assists and 3-plus steals, and he became the first player to hit each of those benchmarks in a game this season.

A game after Dončić posted a game-high 31 points in the Mavericks’ loss to New York on Mar. 9, Dončić posted game highs of 30 points (9-19 FG, 5-11 3FG, 7-10 FT) and 14 rebounds to go along with 6 assists and a game-high-tying 2 blocks in 36 minutes in Dallas’ 113-100 win in Houston on Mar. 11. The performance marked just the second time in his career he reached those numbers in a game (34 points, 20 boards, 12 assists, 2 blocks at SAC on 8/4/20). Dončić also became one of seven players to achieve that stat line in a game this season (joining Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Karl Anthony-Towns) and the only guard to do it in 2021-22.

Dončić capped the week by helping the Mavericks snap Boston’s 5-game win streak with a game-high 26 points to go with 8 rebounds and a game-high 8 assists in the Mavericks’ 95-92 win on national television. The three-time All-Star helped Dallas erase a 13-point second-half deficit for their league-leading 14th double-digit comeback win to improve to a season-high 16 games above .500 (42-26).

Mavericks notes after 111-103 win over Jazz

The Mavericks have gone 24-7 in their last 31 games, improving to a season-high 15 games above .500 (40-25) for the first time since the end of the 2014-15 season, when they finished the season 18 games above .500. The Mavericks have now gone 15-3 in their last 18 games at American Airlines Center.

Luka Dončić led the Mavericks with 35 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Per Stathead, Dončić became the 16th player to record that statline in an NBA game and the first to do so this season. Domantas Sabonis recorded the last game with 35-16-7-3 on February 17, 2021.

Spencer Dinwiddie recorded his second start with the Mavericks and contributed 23 (7-15 FG, 5-9 3FG) points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Over his last 6 games, Dinwiddie is averaging 22.3 points (.553 FG%, .485 3FG%) and 5.3 assists, and the Mavericks have gone 5-1 in that stretch.

Dorian Finney-Smith scored 21 points to go with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. This was only the second game of the season where Finney-Smith recorded 20+ points (12/19 at MIN), though Dallas improved to 10-2 when Finney-Smith goes for 15+ points this season.

Dwight Powell contributed 13 points (5-10 FG) and 4 rebounds in the win. Since the end of the All-Star Break, Powell is averaging 11.2 points (.634 FG%) and 6.2 rebounds per game.

Bojan Bogdanovic led Utah with 21 points on 7-11 shooting, which included 4-8 from deep. Over his last 10 games, Bogdanovic is averaging 17.5 points per game on .405 3FG%.

Face masks no longer required at Dallas Mavericks home games

FROM THE MAVERICKS

In accordance with CDC guidelines and Dallas County community levels, the Dallas Mavericks announce an update to the COVID-19 protocol for games at American Airlines Center – face masks are no longer required for fans in attendance.

The change in policy is effective immediately with tonight’s game against Golden State.

The mandated COVID-19 protocol to submit proof of vaccination or negative test within 48 hours of entry still applies for fans seated within 15 feet of the court.

Individuals with a compromised immune system, or similar condition, will have alternative seating options with fully vaccinated and/or negative tested fans to safely enjoy Mavericks games, as requested.

Dallas Mavericks sign Moses Wright to two-way contract

The Dallas Mavericks have signed forward Moses Wright to a two-way contract.

Wright (6-8, 226) went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft and signed with the Agua Caliente Clippers of the NBA G League. Wright has averaged 17.6 points (.583 FG%, .407 3FG%), 8.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.9 blocks in 17 appearances (all starts) with Agua Caliente, helping them to a 12-5 record this season.

Wright signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Clippers under the COVID-related hardship allowance earlier this season and recorded 1 assist in 1 minute at SAC (12/22/21).

The Raleigh, North Carolina, native spent four years at Georgia Tech prior to entering the NBA and earned ACC Player of the Year honors in his final season with the Yellow Jackets. Wright averaged career highs across the board in 2020-21 with 17.4 points (.532 FG%, .414 3FG%), 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.5 steals per game in 25 games (all starts) and helped Georgia Tech to an ACC Tournament title. Wright was named First-Team All-ACC and was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team.

Wright will wear No. 5 for the Mavericks.

Dallas Mavericks extend contract of Dorian Finney-Smith

The Dallas Mavericks have extended the contract of forward Dorian Finney-Smith.

Finney-Smith (6-7, 220) is currently in his sixth season with the Mavericks, and has averaged 7.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 26.9 minutes in 369 career games (257 starts). He went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft and signed with Dallas on July 8, 2016 before signing a multi-year deal with the Mavericks in 2019.

This season, Finney-Smith is averaging a career-high 10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 32.6 minutes in 55 games (all starts). On the defensive end, he has spent the third-most possessions in the league guarding the opponent’s highest usage player on the floor.

The Portsmouth, Va., native played his final three collegiate seasons at Florida after transferring from Virginia Tech following his freshman year. In 134 career collegiate games, he averaged 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game. As a senior in 2015-16, Finney-Smith averaged 14.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 31.8 minutes in 36 games en route to being named Second Team All-SEC by the coaches and Third Team All-SEC by the Associated Press.