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One of my favorite bloggers happens to cover the Dallas Mavericks for SB Nation, so of course I had to exchange some Q&A’s with him ahead of the NBA Finals. Here are my questions to him.
1. Everyone knows about Luka and Kyrie but not all fans are familiar with the rest of the roster. Dereck Lively has been a great story this year. PJ Washington was a nice pickup (for our mutual old friend Grant Williams). Who do you think is going to be an X-factor for the Mavs in this series?
Dereck Lively has been the best story for the Mavericks but he’s also been a really remarkable addition to the line up. The young man started the season in Abu Dhabi against the big Timberwolves front line and got a hard introduction to NBA life. But something wild happened in that with every week. He got a bit better and a bit better and at some point he hit an accelerator and everything came together at once. He couldn’t set screens to start LVSL and now he’s the Mavs best short roll option. He doesn’t make the same mistakes from game to game, he’s so adaptable and bright, and the results are obvious
Derrick Jones Jr. is the other X factor. He’s a guy so many NBA people know but you maybe consider him a single skill guy (dunks! Defense!) but not the kind of player who can play big minutes because of his limitations. Dallas signed him last in the off season to a minimum deal and he’s earned his starting spot by filling in all the gaps. It looks like his shooting has improved but really, he gets wide wide open shots because of Luka Dončić. He’s going to be a Dallas bellwether; if he’s putting up stats, the mavericks are likely looking great.
2. I guess I have to ask this: How has the Kyrie Irving experience been in Dallas? It seems from afar like he’s fit in well and been a model teammate. Do you think that is maturity or environment or what?
Kyrie’s surpassed every expectation. I wasn’t happy about the trade; Dallas was enough of a circus with the former owner making weird headlines every now and then and the Mavericks themselves underperforming in 2022-23. Irving’s come in and played the part of the wise sage and… if you are skeptical of this, so was I. But if he was acting in the role to start the season, he’s become the part as the year went on.
He seems happier; he brings his kids to home games, I didn’t know he had kids! He gives long, thoughtful answers. Irving seems kind and really grateful to be where he is mentally. Tim MacMahon had a great story on him yesterday where all the quotes speak to a person who is different. It’s pretty remarkable.
3. What do you see as the identity of this team and how could that give them an edge against the Celtics?
They believe. The Mavericks have been tested, beating three 50+ win teams to get here as the road dog in all three series (well by tip against the clippers Dallas had eeked into the favorite but you get my point).
The Celtics are the better team with real shooting (unlike OKC), so Dallas is going to have to raise the level of their defense even higher and execute on offense. Much like the Celtics offense, when Dallas is humming they feel like an unstoppable force. Luka operating off the pick and roll at a high level is somewhat spiritual as if he’s seeing things before they happen.
So that belief is a key. They got here in spite of challenges and now view themselves differently relative to say, January. It should be a great series.
Bonus: Predict the winner and # of games
I have to go Mavs in 6. But this series feels so momentum-focused. I think whoever gets up early closes the series.
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