Mavs turned up the heat on defensive end of court

The Dallas Mavericks went into this season hellbent on being a solid defensive team. But the lightbulb moment when that eventually happened didn’t occur until Feb. 8 when two trades brought the Mavs center Daniel Gafford and forward P.J. Washington.

Gafford and Washington have been the defensive engines the Mavs have used to steer themselves within one win of reaching the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons. Since the two trades, the Mavs have been the ones throwing the first and second punch on the defensive end of the court.

Starting with a 114-108 triumph over the Miami Heat on March 7, the Mavs ended the regular season winning 16 out of their final 20 games, with an emphasis on playing stout defense. And that’s counting the last two games – both losses – against Detroit and Oklahoma City when the Mavs sat their regular rotation players because they had nothing else to play for.

“I thought early in the season we were shooting the ball extremely well and I think we relied on our offense to be our defense,” coach Jason Kidd said after Friday’s practice. “Sometimes the makeup of the roster — or the players — sometimes will lead you to be more of an offensive team than defense. But the trades helped us with the defensive side of the ball, and you saw that since March 7 when we started to play at a high level defensively.

“And then I think just the group that we have being able to do different schemes has helped us on the defensive side. You can be a good defensive team and you can get the missed shots, but if you’re not going to get the rebound you’re not going to be a good defensive team. And I think rebounding has helped us in a big way – being able to get the rebound on a missed shot. If we can rebound the ball we can be a really good defensive team.”

As a whole, the NBA teams that have won the rebounding battle are 51-13 record during this year’s playoffs. Meanwhile, the Mavs are a perfect 13-0 record this season when holding teams under 100 points, including a 4-0 record in postseason play.

OKC was held to 100 points just three times during the regular season and three times during the playoffs. One of those occurred Wednesday when the Mavs held them to their lowest scoring output of the season in a 104-92 victory to inch ahead, 3-2, in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

“I remember the first day of training camp that was one of the first things coach talked about is we need to hold teams to under 100 (points), and that’s what we need to hold our hats to,” guard Josh Green said. “I think everybody is taking responsibility on the defensive end.”

In the first round of the playoffs, the Mavs held the Los Angeles Clippers under 100 points three times, and to an average of 100.3 points during the six-game series. And in this round against OKC, they’ve held the Thunder – they finished third in the league in scoring at 120.1 points per contest — to an average of just 104 points per game.

“Everybody knows their mistakes, but we’re not hanging our heads on it,” Green said. “We’re making sure that it’s a next play mentality, and guys are really locking in on the defensive end.

“The playoffs (are where) every single possession matters, and I think guys realize that and we want to win. So, we’re willing to go as hard as we can on the defensive end.”

And that includes the Mavs’ two superstar guards – Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. Mostly slotted in to score a bushel of points, Dončić and Irving have been rolling up their sleeves and getting down and dirty while making major contributions on the defensive end of the floor.

“Sometimes when we’re asking them to score, there’s going to have to be something that has to give a little bit, so sometimes the defensive end can give,” Kidd said. “But they have done both for us in the playoffs, but also a little bit before the playoffs.

“When you talk about March and April, those guys have been playing both sides of the ball for us, and maybe that’s why our offense has come down a little bit. But understand, if you want to win at this time of the year you’ve got to play defense, you’ve got to get stops, and we’re doing that right now.”

Here are some other nuggets surrounding Game 6 between the Mavs and Thunder.

*Since this is an elimination game that could end OKC’s season, the Mavs are preparing to get perhaps the best game the Thunder have to offer. “OKC is going to give us everything they have, and it’s up to us,” guard Josh Green said. “And in saying that, I think we have to give everything we have, too, and make sure that we cement ourselves into the next round. That’s where we want to be.”

*OKC guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having himself an exceptional series against the Mavs. After scoring 29 points in the series opener, Gilgeous-Alexander has tallied 33, 31, 34 and 30 points during the ensuing four games. While averaging 31.4 ppg in this series, he also is shooting 49.6 percent from the field (57-of-115).

*If Saturday turns into a close game, the Mavs have something working in their favor. The Mavs finished the regular season with the second-best clutch game record in the NBA at 23-9. A clutch game is when the score is within five points at any point with less than five minutes remaining in the game. The Mavs are also 2-2 in the playoffs in clutch games.

*With 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in Wednesday’s win over the Thunder, Luka Dončić has now recorded an NBA-high three triple-doubles during this postseason. Dončić also collected a triple-double in Game 4, and now has triple-doubles in consecutive playoff games for the first time in his career.

*Mavs forward Derrick Jones Jr. scored a playoff career-high 19 points during Wednesday’s 104-92 victory over the Thunder. A total of 15 of those points came in the first half when Jones was 6-of-6 from the floor, including 3-of-3 from three-point territory.

*The winner of the Mavs-Thunder series will advance to the Western Conference Finals and play the winner of the series between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Nuggets-Timberwolves’ best-of-seven series is knotted at 3-3 with Game 7 on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Denver.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (2–3) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (3-2)

When: 7 p.m., Saturday

Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas

TV: ABC, Channel 8

Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

X: @DwainPrice