Last year the Dallas Mavericks made a pretty darn good living off their lob dunks. They rode that very effective pick-and-roll play – and many
others – all the way to a berth in the prestigious NBA Finals.
But this year opponents have made a conscious effort to pack the paint and limit the amount of lob dunks the Mavs are accustomed to converting. That means guards Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, Jaden Hardy, Spencer Dinwiddie, etc., must alter their approach when it comes to trying to negotiate a lob dunk.
“The league has changed, the opponent has changed,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We don’t get any lobs, so we got to be able to finish, no matter if it’s Luka, Kai, Spencer, whoever’s running the pick-and-roll.”
In other words, if the opponents are hellbent on stopping the lob dunk, then, coming out of the pick-and-roll, Kidd knows his players have to take whatever it is the defense is allowing them to take. And in many cases, the defense would rather concede a layup than a lob dunk – although either option still carries two points.
Granted, a layup doesn’t carry the same thunderous impact — from a fan’s perspective – as a lob dunk, which often gets the crowd all lathered up. But the results on 
the scoreboard are definitely still the same.
“We got to look to score first to make the defense change,” Kidd said. “Right now, the defense is sitting on making the playmakers score and we got to take advantage of that.”
As the Mavs attempt to break out of a four-game losing streak with Saturday’s home game against the San Antonio Spurs, Kidd figures they need to start taking the layup out of the pick-and-roll play – if it’s available — and thereby keeping the lob dunk as option number two.
“We have not done that at a high rate, but we’re getting better at that,” Kidd said. “We have to force our opponent to change.
“And the only way to do that is to be aggressive on the drive and take the layup.”
Here are some other nuggets surrounding Saturday’s game between the Mavs and Spurs.
*Saturday’s game against the Spurs is the only game on this brief home stand for the Mavs – and the first leg of a back-to-back – before Dallas makes the short flight to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder on Sunday. After the game against OKC, the Mavs return home to host the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday. The Mavs will
be wearing their new Nike NBA City Edition jerseys for the first time this season when they host the Spurs.
*After squaring off against the Mavs on Saturday, the Spurs will open a three-game home stand on Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The home stand will continue with a Thursday game against the Utah Jazz and a contest against the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 23.
*The Mavs are trying to snap a heart-breaking four-game losing streak. The losing streak is odd in that the Mavs shot at least 50 percent from the field in all four games, and they lost each contest by just one possession – and by a total of only eight points. The losses occurred at home against Phoenix (114-113) on Nov. 8, at Denver (122-120) last Sunday, on the road against Golden State (120-117) this past Tuesday), and in Utah (115-113) last Thursday.
*Spurs center Victor Wembanyama had 28 points, 14 rebounds and five assists during Friday’s 120-115 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He also tallied a career-high 50 points on 18-of-29 shooting in Wednesday’s 139-130 win over the Washington Wizards. In just 32 minutes, Wembanyama was an efficient 8-of-16 from three-point territory and added three blocked shots in that game. In 34 minutes during last Monday’s 116-96
victory over Sacramento, Wembanyama collected 34 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three blocks, and was 13-of-22 from the field.
*Guard Kyrie Irving missed the game against Utah with a right shoulder strain. And it was the fifth straight game forward P.J. Washington has missed while nursing a right knee sprain. When the Mavs opened the season with a 120-109 victory over the Spurs, Luka Dončić had 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Klay Thompson scored 22 points and was 6-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc. Irving scored 15 points, Dereck Lively II collected 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and Jaden Hardy and Washington added 11 points apiece.
*Spurs guard Chris Paul joined the Spurs over the offseason with the intentions of helping with the development of second-year center V
ictor Wembanyama. Paul has responded with six games where he’s finished with double-digit assists. That includes 11 assists against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, 11 assists against Washington on Wednesday, and 11 assists against Sacramento on Monday. Paul is fifth in the league in assists with 8.6 per game, while Wembanyama leads the NBA in blocks with 3.8 per contest, and also averages 22.3 ppg and 10.2 rpg.
*Dereck Lively II, Quentin Grimes and Maxi Kleber all made their first starts of the season during the game against Utah for the Mavs. Lively was in foul trouble practically the entire game and finished with five points, a season-high four blocks, two rebounds and one steal in 17 minutes. Grimes scored a season-high 15 points, and also added four rebounds, a season-high five assists and one steal, and was 3-of-7 from three-point range in 36 minutes. And Kleber collected three points in 17 minutes.
*Klay Thompson scored 39 points on 11-of-25 shots from beyond the three-point arc over the past two games for the Mavs. On Tuesday against Golden State, Thompson tallied a season-high tying 22 points and was 6-of-12 from three-point range against the franchise he helped win four NBA titles. He also scored 17 points and was 5-of-13 from downtown against Utah.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (6-7) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (5-7)
When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: KFAA-29, MavsTV Stream, NBA TV
Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
X: @DwainPrice
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