The Mavericks got out of Miami with a victory Tuesday night that did a lot of good things for them.
First, it ensured that they would not lose two games in a row, having finished their six-game home stand with a 99-97 loss to the LA Clippers.
Second, it pushed their road record to 14-13, which means they will go into the All-Star break with at least a .500 road record with only 13 roadies left after the break. They finish the pre-All-Star portion of the season Thursday at New Orleans.
The 107-99 victory over the Heat also put the Mavericks back to 10 games above .500 at 34-24. They would love to make it 11 to the good Thursday.
But first, a look back at how they built the hard-nosed win over the Heat on Tuesday with our day-after takeaways.
THE CORNER OFFICE: Jason Kidd knew his team was going to have to play a certain way offensively against the Heat. He reminded them at halftime, saying: “Whoever wants to make a corner 3, get to the corner, because that’s going to be open. And we made some.” The Mavericks made a key three in the final moments from Jalen Brunson – yes, from the corner – to basically ice the game. And there were many more But there’s more to them than just plopping oneself in the corner and waiting for a pass. A lot has to happen before the shot can happen. “They’re important,” Kidd said. “We believe guys are able to get in the paint and be able to playmake. Tonight, we felt we were going to get a lot of corner threes, just the way Miami plays defense. And we did. We shot not just corner threes, but 41 threes. Probably half of them come from the corner. Guys stepped up and made them. But it all starts with getting downhill with the ball. If we don’t get downhill, then none of those threes happen.” When you hit 44 percent of your triples (18-of-41), it doesn’t really matter where you shoot them from. But the corner office certainly was open.
DENIED BY KLEBER: Yes, the Mavericks have a team-based defensive philosophy. But it’s still reliant on each person doing their job individually. Against the Heat, Maxi Kleber’s job in the fourth quarter was to stay in front of Jimmy Butler. Kudos to Kidd for putting a bigger defender on Butler down the stretch. But don’t listen to him. Listen to Miami coach Erik Spoelstra about the play of Kleber, who had two of his five blocked shots in the fourth quarter. “This is probably one of the most underrated defensive teams in the league,” he said. “They’re far different than last year. They can do this to you, get you in the mud, make it tough. They stayed at home on our shooters for the most part. We got some good opportunities in the paint, but then they just got some key stops repeatedly in the fourth quarter. Not every team can (play that way). They have a lot of size. Not necessarily monster size, but basically everyone except Brunson is 6-8 with a wingspan, so they’re able to switch and play the gaps.”
SPREADING IT AROUND: Luka Dončić got hounded by the Heat and it showed in his shooting (5-of-19). But he still was able to create for his teammates. While Luka had six assists, he had a lot of what Kidd called hockey assists, where his creativity led to a pass that led to another pass for an open shot. As proof, Jalen Brunson had six assists, newcomer Spencer Dinwiddie had five and Dwight Powell and Josh Green each had three.
BERTANS CAME OUT FIRING, AND DUNKING: In his first game as a Maverick, Dāvis Bertāns had three 3-pointers, which is what they brought him aboard to do. He also found himself on the receiving end of a pass from Jalen Brunson for a fast-break dunk on which he was fouled. Great defense he said, “and I was lucky enough to be on the other end of the floor.” Said the 6-10 shooter of his plan of attack in his Mavericks debut: “The first time I did it (went to a new place), I tried to do too much and it usually doesn’t work out well. So I tried to let the game come to me.” It came to him for 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting (3-of-7 from distance) along with three rebounds in 13 minutes.
SURVIVING BAD BOARDS: Everybody knows our opinion on rebounding. Fewer stats are more important. But against the Heat, the Mavericks were outrebounded 48-38 but lived to tell about it. That’s what happens when you limit your opponent to 41.8 percent shooting and just 26 percent from deep. You can withstand 15 offensive rebounds by the Heat. But it’s not a good habit to get into.
Twitter: @ESefko
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