The Dallas Mavericks have seen a lot of the Utah Jazz over the past month, with their most recent faceoff just two days ago. Dallas repeated their success from Thursday night with a 138-120 win Saturday.
Let’s get to the grades!
Brandon Williams: A
22 PTS / 4 REB / 5 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – 28 MIN
Williams had a very nice game on both sides of the ball. He scored on efficient shooting (8-for-13), played solid defense and made some nice passes. His assist-to-turnover ratio (5:2) wasn’t mind blowing, but there isn’t much to complain about in respect of his overall performance.
Max Christie: A
22 PTS / 2 REB / 4 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – 26 MIN
Christie returned to action looking as though he didn’t miss a beat. He had himself a sound night in all respects, shooting well in his return (7-for-13). He took care of the ball and played sound defense without racking up fouls. Highlight play: cutting off a passing lane for a steal he took the other way for a layup in the second quarter.
Caleb Martin: C+
3 PTS / 6 REB / 5 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 21 MIN
Martin’s near-flawless shooting was absent Saturday night, though he grabbed a few boards and dished some dimes. He didn’t hurt the Mavs, but also didn’t do a whole lot to favorably impact the game. Highlight play: on the opening tip Martin moved as though clairvoyant, getting to a spot before the jump ball was even touched, perfectly positioning himself to gain possession. It was a small thing, but pretty cool to see.
Naji Marshall: B+
16 PTS / 5 REB / 6 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 29 MIN
Marshall had a hot hand and did a bit of everything, but his grade takes a hit for the high turnover (3) and high foul (4) totals.
Dwight Powell: A-
10 PTS / 8 REB / 3 AST / 3 STL / 0 BLK – 27 MIN
Powell was quietly Powell, grabbing boards, hitting his limited shot opportunities, and setting solid screens — one of which got him free throws when Keyonte George committed a flagrant foul by running him over and pushing him to the ground. His steal total gives his grade a boost beyond his other contributions.
Jaden Hardy: C+
12 PTS / 1 REB / 3 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 17 MIN
Hardy can be streaky for sure, and on Saturday his shot could have been better (5-for-13). He did little else and his plus/minus was in the negative for most of the night. Still, he did what you’d want him to do — drop double-figure points in limited minutes.
Moussa Cisse: B-
9 PTS / 10 REB / 0 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 21 MIN
Cisse was solid, though some of his stats came in garbage time. He also had the worst plus/minus on the team (-minus-17).
Klay Thompson: A
23 PTS / 0 REB / 3 AST / 0 STL / 2 BLK – 20 MIN
Thompson’s first half alone had him in the “A” range: 7-for-10 from the floor, 6-for-9 from deep, 3-for-3 from the free throw line, 23 points. He even dished two assists around his prolific shooting. He came back down to earth in the second half, but very few minutes played was a factor in that.
Final thoughts
If you’re on board with Team Tank, you might be a bit chapped to see Utah doing it better than Dallas by sitting players somewhat arbitrarily in both this, and the game Thursday night. Utah is just behind Dallas in the Western Conference standings, so the losses for them are wins from a certain perspective.
I’m not a big fan of intentionally losing, but I would be lying to say a better pick this summer isn’t highly appealing. With the win, Dallas and Utah now have two wins apiece in the season series, but there is a long way to go before game 82 decides the final standings. For now, Dallas continues to look engaged with two-way players and others that don’t get a lot of burn showing up with maximum effort.
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