Carlisle offers high praise to Mavs for adding Gafford, Washington

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle used the adjective “tremendous” when describing the recent trades that brought Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington to the Dallas Mavericks.

“They’ve increased their size, their skill, their depth, their toughness, and positioned themselves really well for the stretch run,” Carlisle said on Sunday prior to his team’s 133-111 win over the Mavs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “They’re on a seven-game winning streak and really just barreling through people. It’s been impressive.”

Carlisle coached the Mavs from 2008-21. During that span, Carlisle coached the Mavs to a 557-476 record, in addition to helping the Mavs win the 2011 NBA title.

What stands out the most about the current Mavs, according to Carlisle, is that: “They got bigger. Gafford is a big force at the rim. He can rebound.

“(Dereck) Lively (II) is developing in front of everyone’s eyes, and P.J. Washington is an underrated player. He’s very versatile, he can play (power forward), he shoots, he can make plays, he can play small ball, (center) if needed. They have (Maxi) Kleber, who can play both of those positions as well. They’re really, really deep.”

Carlisle, though, is aware that the Mavs put a lot of their hope on the shoulders of point guard Luka Dončić. So far this year, Dončić leads the NBA in scoring (34.3 ppg), is second in three-pointers made per game (3.9), third in assists (9.6), seventh in steals (1.5) and also is shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from behind the three-point line.

“What Luka’s doing this year, I don’t even know how you describe it,” Carlisle said. “He’s re-writing history with what he’s doing with scoring and assists and assisted baskets.

“And (Kyrie) Irving is playing great. These guys are in a very small group of teams that are really legitimate contenders.”

Carlisle said when he coached Dončić during the Mavs’ point guard first three seasons, he knew his game would ascend into areas unknown.

“I don’t know who didn’t,” Carlisle said. “I think everybody saw amazing things for him. I’ve been saying for several years that it’s just a matter of time before he’s an MVP and a Finals MVP and all that. Certainly, this year he’s right there with all those conversations.”

MAVS WANT TO BE LOCKED IN ON DEFENSE: From a defensive standpoint, the Mavs went into Sunday’s game against Indiana with a much-improved defense than they had earlier in the season.

During the seven-game winning streak they took into Sunday’s game against Indiana, the Mavs held all seven opponents to under 115 points, the longest such streak this season.

“I think it’s February,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “If you want to be a good team you have to be able to play it (defense) in March and April and May and June.”

Holding opponents under 115 points for seven straight games started three games before the Mavs obtained Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington in separate trades earlier this month.

“When you look at before those two guys came, our defense was starting to trend in the right direction,” Kidd said. “Being able to get those two guys, being able to rebound the misses and not give up second opportunities, deflections and steals have gone up.

“A lot of the things that we’ve been trying to do defensively are now starting to catch, and then you add these two with the length, and P.J. and Gafford protecting the rim. And then on-ball defense has gotten better. And then you look at one of our better defensive guys, number 77 (Dončić). You look at Luka and his ability or guard in the post or on the perimeter.”

IRVING’S A MAGICIAN WITH THE BALL: By now, everyone knows Kyrie Irving is one of the game’s best at handling the basketball. His handles are akin to magician David Blaine performing his tricks.

Mavs coach Jason Kidd said Irving reminds him of former NBA guard Rod Strickland, who so happens to be Irving’s godfather. Like Strickland, Kidd noted that Irving often has the ball on a yo-yo.

“Kai is playing chess with the dribble,” Kidd said. “He knows what he’s doing before the defense or anybody else knows, so the dribble leads to two or three moves before you get to the end.”

And it’s not just Irving’s dribbling skills that has fans mesmerized and defenders feeling hopelessly like they’re caught in a blender.

“The dribble is incredible, but also the finish,” Kidd said. “To be able to finish is right there with incredible, too. The ability, the English.

“The only player I’ve really seen do that is Vince (Carter) with the English off the glass — being able to use the spin on different angles or different heights on the backboard.”

BRIEFLY: When asked what he hopes to learn about his team on this four-game road trip, coach Jason Kidd said: “We still got new pieces, but we’re getting those guys familiar. There’s going to be games that are close (and) different lineups will be out there. We want to see how guys handle different situations, but we’re also trying to find a way to win. We’ll get to see our depth, and hopefully we can be completely healthy at some point on this trip.” . . . On what his team needs to do to make a deep playoff run, and also what the role players must do in order to help the Mavs be successful, Kidd said: “I think it starts with health. We have to be healthy. And understanding your role and being comfortable and doing your role and being unselfish. Those two guys (Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving) are going to draw a lot of attention (and) they’re going to play a lot of minutes. It’s about team, it’s about being ready when your name is called and just doing your job. If we can do that we’ll see if we can be one of the last team’s standing here in June.” . . . Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh and his brother, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, attended Sunday’s game. Their dad, Jack Harbaugh – a long-time high school and college coach – also was at Sunday’s game . . . Kidd continues to rave about the two new additions to his roster – P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford. “They’re going to play their minutes hard,” he said. “Ever since they joined you’ve seen the defense has improved with those two joining the team. The big thing is to continue to put them in position to be successful, but also to see at times different situations of how they handle when things aren’t going well. And we’ll see how they can do, and hopefully we can help them when things aren’t going well to put them back in the situations to be successful. Those two guys have been great for us. Again, it’s helped our depth and will continue to help.” . . . These are some very busy times for the city of Indianapolis. In addition to hosting last week’s NBA All-Star game and Sunday’s Mavs-Pacers game, the NFL Scouting Combine will be held here starting Monday.

X: @DwainPrice