The clock is ticking on the Mavericks.
The shot clock, that is, coach Jason Kidd said Friday morning after the Mavericks’ shootaround in preparation for Game 3 at 8:30 p.m.
Kidd said the Mavericks have been slow to get into their offense – too slow at times – and that’s put added pressure on their playmakers – Luka Dončić in particular.
Kidd listed that as one of the things to watch for as the series shifts to American Airlines Center.
“Luka’s doing a great job of putting pressure on the defense,” Kidd said. “But we got to look at scoring a little sooner in the shot clock. We’re running up against the shot clock and getting some grenades.”
In generic terms, that means the shot clock is about to go off when somebody has the grenade – oops, basketball – in their hands. The Mavericks had three shot-clock violations in Game 2 and several other occasions when the clock was expiring as they shot.
“So we got to look to explore earlier and often, because when you let their defense settle into the zone, it puts a lot of pressure of being able to think about where you should be offensively and then that runs up against the clock, so we have to do a better job of that.”
Kidd had a couple other key points that the Mavericks must address to start the process of digging out of a 2-0 hole in the best-of-seven series.
Along with getting into the offense quicker, another priority is finding a way to confound Chris Paul just a little bit. The Suns’ point guard dominated Game 2 in the second half, making 9-of-10 shots and scoring 20 of his 28 points.
“He understands the game at a very, very high level,” Kidd said. “And so it’s hard. When you see him in the fourth quarter, he’s at a different level. And we have to match that energy that he has.
“He’s the best at dictating the game. He knows how to get guys their shot. And we have to be able to kind of change that if we want any chance of winning.”
Maxi Kleber was asked about Paul and agreed that making life tough on him is the only way to combat his legendary crunch-time expertise.
“Obviously, very smart player,” Kleber said. “That’s why you have to wear him down early in the game, pick him up full court, make him tired so he doesn’t have the legs for those shots. But he’s been in the league a long time. He knows where his spots are. But we can do a better job on him, too.”
What it will all boil down to, Kleber said, isthe three E’s: bringing the emotion, the energy and the execution.
“Be physical, play hard and we have to execute the game plan,” he said. “A lot of times, there’s a second or third rotation that we slept on or were a little bit slow (in Phoenix) and we can’t allow that with this team. They’re too good. The sense of urgency has to be higher.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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