In case you haven’t noticed, the Dwight Time of the year appears to have arrived for the Mavericks.
Under vastly different circumstances last season, Dwight Powell had a strong finishing kick that started roughly at the same juncture of the season that the Mavericks find themselves at now.
Powell was cruising along at the end of January last season with solid numbers, but he saw a significant uptick in production from February to the end of the season, averaging 11.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in 28 games. He saw 25.6 minutes of action in those games and was a 44 percent 3-point shooter (14-of-34).
That stretch pushed his season numbers to 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds.
This year, he was averaging 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds through Jan. 30.
In the five games since, he has averaged 10.8 points and 7.2 rebounds.
Powell’s surge this season coincided with the trade of DeAndre Jordan and others to New York on Jan. 31. In the five games since that deal, Powell has averaged 10.3 points and 7 rebounds. (41 and 28).
He’s also 4-of-9 on 3-pointers.
Last year, the Mavericks were playing out the season with no meaningful games as they slipped toward the bottom of the standings.
This season is different as they try to creep back to .500. And the trades of Jordan and Harrison Barnes mean that Powell is due for more playing time than he was getting before the deals.
“He’s naturally going to be playing more minutes with D.J. not here,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “So things are set up for him to play more, certainly. Regardless of his minute totals to this point, I feel like he’s having a terrific year. His finishing around the basket is up in the top of the league. His 3-point shooting is on the come. He’s worked on it tirelessly and (his recent shooting is) an example of not thinking about it, just stepping into it when he has open looks.”
Clearly, the Mavericks are going to need Powell, along with Maxi Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith, to take up the slack in the rebounding department. They lost 14 rebounds per game when they traded DeAndre Jordan to New York in the Kristaps Porzingis deal.
They’ll have to keep the hustle plays coming at Houston on Monday night and against Miami at American Airlines Center on Wednesday in the final game before the All-Star break.
For Powell, it’s business as usual.
He’s not prone to major fluctuations in the effort he gives. Energy is the driving force behind his game and he’s not going to change that.
“Whether I’m out there for 3 minutes or 30 minutes, I’m not going to do anything differently,” he said. “You can always control your effort and I’m going to do whatever I can to help win games.”
Powell is in his fifth season, all but five games as a rookie in Boston have been with the Mavericks. His scoring average has gone up every season, to 8.7 points per game this year.
He’s still got a ways to go to match Derek Harper, who raised his scoring average every year through his eighth season with the Mavericks, topping off at 19.7 points per game.
But if Powell continues his second-half surge that might becoming something of a trademark, he should have no trouble keeping his streak going.
Twitter: @ESefko
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