The Dallas Mavericks have been a ‘middle of the pack’ team for the entirety of this 2022-23 NBA season. With their loss to the Washington Wizards last night, Luka and company seem to be approaching .500 territory once again as their record stands at a lackluster 25-24.
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The sole bright spot for the Mavs this season has been their European superstar, Luka Doncic. Doncic has been averaging the most points by anybody in the NBA this year with 33.8, closely followed by Joel Embiid who’s putting up 33.6. Luka’s 9.1 rebound’s and 8.6 assists a night are good enough to make him the best all-around offensive player in the league.
Other than him however, there seems to be nobody else on the roster who can step up in his place when need be. Of course, it’s hard to replace a generational talent like him but the offense takes a considerable dip the second he steps off the court.
Kyle Kuzma gets back at Spencer Dinwiddie’s comments
Despite a late game turnover by Bradley Beal that led to free throws from Luka Doncic (credit to Beal’s quick 5 points in the clutch though), the Wizards squeaked out a win over the Mavs on the Texas team’s home floor. The final play saw a pass from Luka near the half-court line get deflected and the ball go out of play.
Following the game, Spencer Dinwiddie would take to his postgame availability to say that the guys on the Wizards were just playing for contracts while the Mavs, who have an MVP on their team, are playing for a championship.
Spencer Dinwiddie after Mavs’ loss to Wizards: “For them, it’s a showcase. They’re over there trying to get paid, not trying to play winning basketball. For a team that has real aspirations and has an MVP, went to the conference finals last year, we have to be better to a man.”
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) January 25, 2023
Kyle Kuzma took note of this and quote tweeted Cappie Caplin’s tweet by poking fun at the former Wizard for suggesting that Dallas is playing winning basketball. He finished his ‘clapback’ with a clown emoji.
The funny thing is they don’t play winning basketball 🤣🤣🤣✌🏽✌🏽✌🏽👋🏽🤡 https://t.co/O4klCwulLG
— kuz (@kylekuzma) January 25, 2023
Is Kyle Kuzma right?
The two stats that jump off the page for the Dallas Mavericks aren’t even stats that are incredibly nuanced. The fact that they are dead last in the league in rebounds per game and assists per game goes to show that the ball stays stagnant and there isn’t a lot of swing-swing action involved in their plays.
Jason Kidd does implement a ‘get a back on D’ rebounding scheme so the rebounding numbers do take a hit from there. The Mavs are also bottom 5 in both deflections and loose balls recovered during a game. Stats aren’t the end all be all but these numbers aren’t promising in the slightest if someone were to argue with Kyle Kuzma’s point.
Also read: WATCH: Luka Doncic Furiously Rips Jersey After Missing Game Winning Free Throws
