PORTLAND – When it comes to the way the Dallas Mavericks have been playing on defense lately, coach Jason Kidd doesn’t mince words.
The Mavs lost a pair of games in Portland over the weekend, both by 17 points, including Sunday’s 140-123 setback.
The Mavericks allowed 276 points in the two games — the most points they have allowed in consecutive games all season. Kidd knows those two stinkers on the defensive end of the court are not conducive to winning basketball games.
That’s why he reiterated that the Mavs must make marked improvements on defense if they want to get to where they want to get to.
“Right now our defense is struggling,” Kidd said. “We just got to give a little better effort, unless we’re just going to be an offensive team where we’re just going to try to score 140 every night.”
Here are the three takeaways from Sunday’s loss to the Blazers.
HARDY TIME: The Mavs may have found themselves another valuable guard they can depend on in Jaden Hardy. Playing like he’s ready to become a mainstay in the regular rotation, the rookie from the G League Ignite turned in a very impressive performance. Running up and down the court like a gazelle, Hardy scored a season-high 25 points and was 8-of-17 from the field, 
including 3-of-10 from downtown in 27 minutes.
THREE STARTERS OUT: Of course, it’s always next man up when players don’t play for whatever reasons. But the Mavs had five of their top seven players out. That included Luka Doncic (left ankle soreness), Tim Hardaway Jr. (left ankle sprain), Dorian Finney-Smith (right adductor strain), Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and Maxi Kleber (right hamstring tear). The manpower shortage took its toll on a Mavs’ team playing the last game of a period where they played five games on the road in eight days.
DAME TIME: Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard showed why he’s headed to the Hall of Fame one day. Lillard scored 40 points and was 10-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-9 from beyond the three-point arc. Lillard, the Blazers’ all-time leading scorer, also drew enough fouls to attempt 16 free throws, and he made all of them. Lillard also scored nine points during a 16-0 run by the Blazers which increased the score from 106-103 to 122-103.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
Share and comment