Getty Maxi Kleber loses his dribble in a game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Six games into the 2021-22 season, the Dallas Mavericks have struggled tremendously on the offensive end of the floor. This is very surprising, considering the success they’ve had offensively in the past two seasons.
This season, the Mavs have the second worst offensive rating (97.6) in the entire NBA. They’re last in the league in both field goal percentage and assists. Dallas simply cannot get their offense running as efficiently as they need to if they’re going to be a contender.
At the surface of the issue is Luka Doncic, who’s certainly played below what he’s capable of to this point in the season. He’s averaged just 22.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game while shooting 25.7% from beyond the arc.
Doncic could certainly be better, but most of the struggles this season come down to the supporting cast.
The Co-Star
As important as Doncic is to the success of the Mavericks, he can’t do it alone. Even if he were producing the numbers that we’re accustomed to seeing from him, the supporting cast has been very poor offensively.
This starts with his co-star Kristaps Porzingis, who is already missing games. In fact, he’s missed the past two games, and half of the game before that. As such, he’s played in only three games this season, resulting in 78 minutes played due to back issues.
GettyKristaps Porzingis, Mavericks
That puts Porzingis at eighth on the Mavericks’ roster this season in total minutes played. As the second-best player on the roster, that’s less than ideal. Additionally, even when he has been on the court, he hasn’t been great.
The 7-footer is averaging just 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 30.2% from the floor and 25.7% from beyond the arc.
However, he’s not the only one that is at fault for the offensive struggles.
The Supporting Cast
Dallas’ third best player is Tim Hardaway Jr., who has also been below average early in the season. He has been healthy, but is averaging only 12.8 points per contest. For reference, he produced 16.6 points per game for the Mavs last season.
For him, it’s about the number of shots. He’s only taken 10.4 shots per game, which is extremely low. Especially in these more recent games without Porzinigs in the lineup, Hardaway Jr. should be much more aggressive. His shooting splits look just fine, it’s about generating more shots for the explosive scorer.
From there, it’s been the inconsistency with the Dallas bigs. While they have a ton of depth with Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber, Willie Cauley-Stein, Boban Marjanovic and Moses Brown, none have stepped up as a dominant center.
GettyDwight Powell talks to Mavericks teammate Boban Marjanovic between plays.
Although Powell has been the starter to this point, he’s averaged just 8.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Kleber has been perhaps the best of this group at this point in the season, producing 7.2 points and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from deep. However, he’s come off the bench and played just over 21 minutes per game.
The Dallas bench overall has the pieces to be special. Outside of Kleber, who’s solid defensively, the Mavs have a ton of scoring.
The top offensive reserves include Reggie Bullock and Jalen Brunson, who have the ability to score in bunches. Brunson has been fine this season, averaging 11.2 points and 5.2 assists per game.
It’s been Bullock who’s taken some time to get acquainted to his new team. He’s getting closer to being a real contributor, but it has taken time for the 3-point sniper.
Deadeye 🎯🎯🎯
Through the first two games of the season, Bullock got very limited playing time and had only scored four total points. Since then, he’s averaged 9.3 points in 23.1 minutes per contest and has started in two games in the absence of Porzingis.
The Mavericks will likely figure things out as they work with new coach Jason Kidd, but to this point the offense has been what’s held them back.