The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 109-84 in the final tune-up game before the Mavericks kick off another season; this time with the heightened expectations that come with being the best in the West and making it to the NBA finals.
Even if the Mavs had gone 0-4, preseason has never been a big indication of regular season success, but it was nice to see the squad put a W on the board and look good doing it.
Clean(er) sheet
Look, preseason is preseason. We shouldn’t overreact to too much. As long as everybody makes it through the warm-up games healthy, it’s all kind of a wash. However, after a loss against the LA Clippers where Dallas had 29 turnovers, there was a desire to see this team play a little more coherently, even if the wins and losses didn’t matter.
A Bucks squad that was playing with Giannis Antetokoumpo was just what the doctor ordered. Kyrie Irving especially looked like a guy who was ready for the season to start. After being a late addition to the starting lineup, He was sharp from the jump; scoring and dishing with his usual aplomb. Irving was 6-of-7 from the floor and added two assists in his 19 first-half minutes.
The Mavs did a significantly better job protecting the ball, keeping the turnovers to just 15 (it was as low as nine before the benches got emptied), and their offense looked much smoother. They shot 50% from the floor as a team.
Klay’s funny prank
Klay Thompson, one of the purest shooters the league has ever seen and a consummate pro, was doing this funny thing where instead of being an ice-cold, knockdown shooter who can stretch the defense to their breaking point – what if instead he just didn’t hit any shots?
Well, he missed 13 in a row before finally downing a three-pointer mid-way through the first quarter. He followed it up with a little midrange fadeaway for good measure. It wasn’t enough to put a shine on his preseason performance, but it was at least something better than a big goose egg. After starting 0-for-4, He ended up going a respectable 3-of-7 from deep, not letting the early misses dissuade him from taking the kind of volume three-point attempts Dallas will be looking for from him.
Granted, he’s played these games without having Luka Doncic to help set up his open looks. That, no doubt, was a big part of why he’s in Dallas, and one can hope and assume that those shots will start falling like we’re used to when the regular season starts.
League’s not ready
ESPN only had four Mavericks ranked in their top 100 NBA players. Doncic and his running mate Kyrie Irving were shoe-ins, but the third Dallas entrant was none other than the sophomore Dereck Lively at 56.
If you really cared to, you could search “Lively 56” on X and see people grumbling about his being ranked ahead of some of their favorite players, but good reader, let me tell you. He’s only going up.
After finishing last season as one of the most efficient offensive players in the league, he’s been unveiling just how much he’s added to his bag this offseason. The turnaround hook looks polished. He hit a mid-range trailer. He even hit both his free throws. With how much Lively was already contributing on the defensive end as a rookie if he can bring this new move set on offense into the regular season, his stock is going to pop like a shitcoin getting pumped before the rug pull.
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