By Kyle Soppe
The so called “defending champs” aren’t in line to win a playoff series, let alone repeat. The Mavs lost every one of their three road games in the last three days, and have dropped their last seven on the road. The past three nights, the Mavs have lost by an average of 13 points, while playing teams with a .408 winning percentage. The Warriors handled them on this night by a final score of 111-87.
The Warriors tallied at least 26 points in every quarter, something the Mavs only accomplished once.
Monta Ellis, the definition of a score first point guard, had more assists than baskets made. Don’t get used to this passing mentality, this type of stat line only occurs 18.9% of the time for Ellis. He still managed to score 20+ points for the eighth time in 10 games, thanks in large part to his hot hand from outside. After not connecting on a triple for three straight games, Ellis has made 8/12 over his last three.
No body is going to confuse this Golden State team as a top notch team, but they win 70% of the games in which David Lee has less than two turnovers.
While the Warriors continue to score points, Dorell Wright has been a non-factor. He has scored less points than his season average (9.5) in 10 of the teams last 14 games and hasn’t attempted a free throw in his last 75 minutes of action.
Steph Curry was supposed to be play make who had the ability to not only score, but set up his teammates at an elite level. The injury prone guard has recorded 7+ assists only once in the last month.
Kurt Soppe’s vote for rookie of the year, Klay Thompson, continued his stretch of solid games with a 13 point effort. The Washington State product has scored 47 points over his last three games, the highest scoring set of consecutive games in his career. He also made six free throws, showing that his aggressive is developing as he had six made free throws over his previous 10 games combined. On the down side, the Warriors don’t seem to win more often when the rookie produces; they are only 6-8 when he tallies double figures.
Nate Robinson is who we though he was, and that’s a volume scorer that can win you a game just as easily as lose you one. He had disappeared of late, but matched his point total over his last three games with a 21 point effort last night. He also collected a season high five rebounds.
Brandon Rush is facing an adjustment period in the Association, and that is most evident in his lack of confidence when hoisting up a three pointer. He misfired on all four attempts last night, and has now missed 17 of his last 21 triples.
The Mavericks had an Orlando Magic type afternoon from the field, as they connected on nearly as many three pointers (10) as they did two pointers (18). The 18 made two point field goals was by far the lowest in the NBA last night, with a handful of duos equaling the total. Paul Milsap and Josh Howard (not exactly elite scorers) made 18 deuces by themselves in a losing effort to the Bulls.
Dirk Nowitski claims to be in better shape now, but his lack of accuracy would indicate otherwise. He has shot less than 50% in all but two of his past 11 games.
Jason Terry’s role is to be a scoring guard, so it is no surprise that the team lost of the fifth time in the last six games in which Terry has dished out 5+ assists. Committing a season high seven turnovers isn’t going to help the cause either.
Before Linsanity, we had Vinsanity, and of late, we have had neither. Carter is shooting 25% over the past week, and with the Mavs as a whole struggling, they can’t withstand Carter to start aging quickly.
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