In the Scope: Golden State Warriors x Dallas Mavericks tonight

By: J.M. Poulard

The Dallas mavericks (16-4) could possibly be the best team in the NBA right now. Their win last Saturday in Sacramento stretched their winning to streak to nine games. During the run, Dallas has won @Atlanta, @Oklahoma City, Vs. Miami and @Utah. The Mavericks have emerged as a contender this season by virtue of their record but also because they have been able to take down some of the best teams in the league.

The recipe to Dallas’ success has been their stingy defense. Indeed, the Mavs are holding opponents to a mere 92.2 points per game (3^rd in the league) on 43.1% field goal shooting (2^nd in the league).The Mavericks have been impressive on defense so far this season due to two reasons:

I. Collective defensive I.Q.

When you watch Dallas play, you realize that they rarely allow their opponents best shooters to get clean looks because of how they rotate on defense. They make sure to always pinpoint the offensive liabilities and help off of them. Mind you, there’s no surprise there; this is what you would expect from a good defensive team in the NBA.

But what makes the Mavericks defense special is their ability to recover even when they make a bad defensive rotation. Indeed, the collective I.Q. on defense is high enough that players are able to cover for one another even when they make an improper defensive shift. This ability to be in sync on defense is what allows Dallas to frequently alternate between man to man and zone defense during games.

II. Tyson Chandler

The former Bobcats center is a terrific individual and team defender. Opposing centers have trouble scoring on him and his help defense often discourages players from attacking the basket. However, in the event that opponents get in the lane, Chandler will step up to either take the charge or he will contest the shot by jumping straight up and rarely breaking the plane of verticality to avoid fouling. The end result is that Dallas allows 39.3 points per game in the paint which is good for 12^th in the league. Also, the Mavericks do a great job of fouling opponents at the rim. The tag team of Chandler and Haywood combine for about seven fouls per game; but at least half of them are hard ones that linger in the back of the mind of the opposition.

Mind you, the Mavericks are far from unbeatable. A team that once thrived on putting up points is now averaging 98.0 points per game (19^th in the league) on 47.4% field goal shooting (third in NBA). Dallas is extremely efficient on offense but their slow pace of 90.6 (possessions per 48 minutes) means they do not put up enough shots up on average.

The slow tempo (25^th in the NBA in pace) can be problematic for the Mavericks when it comes time to distribute shots. Look at the top five leaders in shot attempts for Dallas:

As you can see, Dirk Nowtizki is ridiculously efficient; however he is not getting enough shot attempts.Call me old fashioned, but what happened to the good old days when MVP type players took north of 20 shots per game (unless they were point guards obviously)?

The Mavericks ask their wing players to screen on Nowitzki’s man to shake him free; however they are poor screeners which means Disco Dirk at times ends up a bit further than expected with the ball in his hands or simply the ball goes to the next option in the play. To Nowitzki’s credit, he can score from just about anywhere on the court. Mind you, if the ball ends up in the hands of players such as Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson or Jason Terry, other players can forget about seeing the rock swing back their way.

Butler and Terry especially have a fondness for trying to isolate their defenders with the hopes of scoring on them.Terry does a good job of getting to the spots he wants to on the floor to score, however Caron Butler is a different story. He often times settles for low percentage shots which typically lead to misses. He is currentlyaveraging 12.0 point per game on 35.3% field goal shootingin Mavs losses. His production alone does not doom the Mavericks, but combine a poor shooting effort from him and with a typical Jason Kidd (who is shooting 36.1% on the year) night and the Mavs probably struggle.

So when the Golden State Warriors walk into the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night in Dallas, they should focus their efforts on getting the ball out of the German Jordan’s hands (name courtesy of IdiotSports Talk) and into Caron Butler’s.

For good measure, Golden State might want to try to crash the boards in this game. They are 4^th in the NBA in offensive rebounding while the Mavs are 19^th in offensive rebounds allowed. Strength versus weakness always makes for a good fight.

The Warriors have had great success over the Mavs in recent years, look for that to continue tonight and the Warriors channeling their inner Snoop Dogg after the game sipping on some Gin and Juice.