There was a streak there where no NBA team was less efficient from the perimeter than the Dallas Mavericks. Luka Doncic weighs in.
Maybe the Dallas Mavericks have already fixed it. Or maybe the struggling perimeter shooting will continue to creep back into play.
And when it does? Luka Doncic has an answer.
Flash back to last Friday. In their 106-93 loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Mavericks shot just 4-of-29 (13.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Caris LeVert managed to match Dallas in makes while taking 22 fewer attempts while the Pacers as a whole dropped in 13 makes.
Getting outscored by a 24 points from the three-point line creates such a substantial disadvantage for any team to have to overcome. For a Mavericks team that has posted below league-average results defensively this season, it's all the more challenging.
The Mavericks at that moment had posted just a 1-4 record in their previous five outings. Within that stretch, their output on offense has been among the worst in the league with an offensive rating of 101.5 (28th) and converting at just a 27.0 percent clip from deep (30th).
Struggling offensive results clearly has become a troubling recent trend for the Mavericks as they had been held below 100 points in five consecutive games. Now, they've won two straight - interestingly, while Doncic was sidelined with his knee injury, as will be the case tonight when LeBron James' Lakers (15-13) visit the AAC.
What's the solution?
“Right now, we’re just not making shots,” Doncic said over the weekend, before this mini-run that has moved the Mavs to 14-13. “We have a lot of open shots, we’re just not making them. I don’t know why.
“We just got to maybe attack more, shoot less 3's. I think we just got to think paint first, then shoot 3's. I took a lot of bad '3s. We should think rim first.”
In theory, getting to the rim when shots aren't falling makes a lot of sense. However, there are only so many players in the Mavericks' starting lineup around Luka and Kristaps Porzingis who can achieve, let alone in the rotation altogether.
Porzingis expressed how the team is already trying to the paint but is facing situations where the defense 'sinks in' to help against Doncic — resulting in spray-out passes for open looks on the perimeter.
“We try to get to the paint,” Porzingis said. “That’s one of the goals and that’s why we also get open shots. Everybody sinks in and Luka is distributing."
Porzingis sees the solution for the Mavericks being a rather simple one; make open shots. Teams will have to play a more honest approach when defending Doncic when shots do start to fall — opening up additional layers for the half-court offense.
"It’s on everybody else to start making those wide-open looks," said KP, who in this recent run has certainly done that. "Once we do that, other teams will be more hesitant to help and it’s going to be a chain reaction in our favor. We’re waiting for that moment.”
When constructing their roster, the Mavericks re-signed Tim Hardaway Jr. with his highly-efficient shooting in mind. The applies for using the Mid-Level Exception to sign Reggie Bullock. If those players are not converting catch-and-shoot jumpers, the offense suffers. When the stars aren't getting their shots to fall, either? There's not much room for other areas to overcompensate.
Of the Mavericks' 29 attempts from the perimeter against the Pacers, all but four came from Bullock, Doncic, Hardaway Jr., or Porzingis. The two complementary talents — Bullock and Hardaway Jr — combined to shoot 1 of 11 (9.1 percent) while Doncic and Porzingis finished going 3 of 14 (21.4 percent).
The solution, tonight and maybe beyond? Get to the rim.