The Dallas Mavericks received some devastating news when guard Tim Hardaway Jr. exited Tuesday’s game against the Golden
State Warriors after suffering a fracture of the fifth metatarsal on his left foot.
It is not known how long Hardaway will be sidelined.
Shortly after the 130-92 loss to the Warriors, coach Jason Kidd said: “I haven’t had a chance to see Tim yet. I just got the news about what happened, so it’s sad.
“So now the next step is for him to do what he has to do to get that fixed.”
Hardaway was injured when he drove to the right side of the basket and made minimal contact with Warriors guard Damion Lee with 7:17 remaining in the second quarter. A foul was whistled on Lee on the play, and Hardaway converted the two free throws to get the Mavs within 40-35 of the Warriors.
From there, Dorian Finney-Smith committed an intentional foul on Stephen Curry, and Hardaway was helped off the court and to the locker room.
“l talked to him,” guard Luka Doncic said. “He is disappointed.
“He was sad, so we tried to cheer him up. But when you get injured, it’s hard to be happy.”
Forward Kristaps Porzingis, who joined the Mavs along with Hardaway in the blockbuster trade with New York in 2019, said Hardaway was melancholy in the locker room after the game.
“He was down at first, I could tell, like all of us would be when you find out the news,” Porzingis said. “When I talked to him now he seems to be in better spirits already.
“He was asking Theo (Pinson) — Theo had a similar injury before – what’s it like coming back from all that. So he’s already curious about coming back and he’ll get to work, I’m sure.”
Hardaway was averaging 14.3 points while being the Mavs’ most valuable player off the bench. So how do the Mavs make up for his huge loss?
“That’s a good question,” Kidd said. “You’ve got to ask me that in about two weeks. There’s no answer for that right now. We got to figure out next man up mentality.
“I don’t know if we can make it for Timmy being out. He’s a veteran, he’s one of our leaders. We’ve had guys out with injuries or Covid, and it’s been the next man mentality. So Frank (Ntilikina), Theo, those guys are going to have to step up.”
Hardaway has been mostly healthy through his career. In 2017-18 with the Knicks, Hardaway missed 20 games with a left leg injury. He also sat out the final 11 games in 2019 with the Mavs, and ultimately underwent surgery to address a stress injury to his left tibia.
Now this.
“Tim is a great leader for us — always vocal, always extremely competitive, always wants to win,” Porzingis said. “Hopefully, even if he is not playing, he can be around the team as much as possible, be at the games as soon as he can and be that presence for us.
“We’re going to have to figure out how to play without him for a little while, but we have some guys that are ready to step up that haven’t had a chance to play and that can give us some production, so we’re excited. I’m excited for those guys that are going to get that opportunity now.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr displayed true sportsmanship when he learned the details of Hardaway’s injury.
“I just want to say how sorry we are to hear that,” Kerr said. “I hate to see anybody get injured.
“We just want to send (Hardaway) our regards from the organization and hopefully he’s back sometime soon. I don’t know what the prognosis is, but we feel terrible for him.”
SLOW START TO SEASON BY DONCIC: Maybe Luka Doncic’s slow start to this season can be attributed to the point guard’s
long offseason, including a lengthy berth in last summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
Then again, maybe not.
“We can use that as an excuse, if you want,” said Kidd. “I’ll go with that. He played a lot of basketball.”
Shortly after the Mavs lost a brutal first-round playoff series to the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games last summer, Doncic was busy helping his country – Slovenia – qualify for the Olympics for the first time ever in men’s basketball. After that, with Doncic running the show, Slovenia made it to the bronze medal game.
And with not much rest after that, the NBA training camp started.
“He was on the world stage and losing a tough series to the Clippers, and then going in to try to quality for the Olympics,” Kidd said. “Doing that on a high stage and then coming and showing the world that it wasn’t just a fluke — a lot of basketball.
“And then come back to get right back to the NBA. But he won’t use it as an excuse because he loves to play.”
Another factor that played into Doncic’s slow start was the left knee sprain and left ankle sprain that cost him three games in November and the left ankle soreness that cost him another six games in December.
In addition, Doncic sat out five more games from Dec. 23-31 while in the health and safety protocols. And he missed another game on Jan. 7 with a right ankle sprain.
But in the eight games since Jan. 7, Doncic has three triple-doubles and is averaging 27.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and 8.5 assists.
“I think we all expect him to do that day one and then do it all the way to June, and that’s just not humanly possible,” Kidd said. “Maybe he had a slow start. It happens, but where he is today, he’s trending up and we need that.
“I think he’s hitting his stride and it’s a good time right before the All-Star break to be playing at a high level. Then, when we come back (after the All-Star break) it’s 27 games left and it’s a sprint, but I think he’s comfortable.”
Overall, Doncic is averaging 25.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists, and is shooting 43.7 percent from the field and only 29.1 percent from three-point land.
“He probably believes he should be shooting the ball a little bit better,” Kidd said. “But you make some, you miss some and we all truly believe he’s going to make them when they count, so I like where he’s at.”
OFFENSE TO DEFENSE: With the Mavs’ core group accustomed to scoring points like they’re playing a video game, to Kidd’s surprise, they didn’t mind trying to add some semblance of a defense to the equation.
And that addition was across the board.
“It’s not just one (player) and it’s not just two,” Kidd said. “But the team has taken on this identity that they have fun playing defense as much as they’ve had fun playing offense. They enjoy both sides of the ball, and you can see that when they’ve been playing at a very, very high level — and that’s everybody.”
And that includes Doncic.
“As much as people will say Luka plays one side, Luka is playing defense,” Kidd said. “As much as he’s telling us as coaches he
should be on the all-defensive team, it’s fun to see this group that has been known as just an offensive team now showing that they can also play defense.”
Over the last six weeks, the Mavs have been the best defensive team in the NBA. They went into Tuesday’s game against the Warriors ranked fourth in the league in total defense.
“Jason’s done a really good job with them,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “They’ve got some good individual defenders, they’ve got a good scheme, they’re switching a lot.”
Back on Jan. 5, the Warriors came to Dallas with the best record in the NBA. Final score: Mavs 99, Warriors 82. It’s the fewest points the Warriors have scored in a game this season.
“I thought they played great defense against us in Dallas a few weeks ago – a lot of switching,” Kerr said. “And they’ve got guys like (Dorian) Finney-Smith and (Maxi) Kleber.
“(Jalen) Brunson is really strong. While he doesn’t have the size that the other guys have, he’s got the strength to hold up in switches. And they’ve been together for a long time now – that whole group – so I think the continuity has helped as well.”
During last year’s 72-game season, the Mavs held opponents under 100 points 14 times. They’ve already accomplished that feat 19 times through the first 47 games this season.
“You look at our group, it’s a constant work in progress,” Kidd said. “You introduce a system, there’s going to be a time that it takes time for them to digest. This group has come together at the same time on the defensive end and they truly believe that they can hold teams under 100 points. And this is something that can help them win.”
KERR ON NOWITZKI: Golden Sate Warriors coach Steve Kerr showed a lot of love and admiration for ex-Mavs superstar Dirk Nowitzki prior to Tuesday’s game against the Mavs.
“He’s always been one of my favorite players,” Kerr said. “I played against him for (five) years at the end of my career and the very beginning of his, and he quickly became an All-Star. And then I actually coached him during the All-Star game in 2015, which was a lot of fun just to get to know him better.
“And then I got to know him through Steve Nash a little bit over the years. We ended up at a few of the same gatherings.”
During those gatherings, Kerr was able to see a different side of Nowitzki.
“Dirk is just somebody I really admire and not only for his game, but the way he carries himself and how humble he is,” Kerr said. “It’s rare that you find a guy who’s that great of a player – one of the very best players in the history of the game – who is just so unassuming and humble.
“(He’s a) fantastic player and wonderful human being. It was fun to be down there in Dallas (on Jan. 7). Even though we lost the game, it was fun to see him honored at the jersey retirement a few weeks ago.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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