Atlanta Hawks (2-2) 111 - 104 Dallas Mavericks (2-2)

First published October 25th 2018

DSJ still needs to show improvements on defense (or at least keep him away from someone like Trae). In the first play in this clip he completely overreaches on a pass allowing an open lane for a Young drive and dish, while in the second he gets his body on a weird semi-sideways stance for a second and Young just sees an easy drive and DSJ even fould him trying to make up for it. These were back to back possessions...

Luka came in really well and the Mavs got an early lead behind his scoring (12 points in the first). His floaters coming out of PnRs are so smooth and his size makes it hard to stop. I liked how fast the team were pushing up and most of their offense was very early on the shot clock. The presence of DJ in the paint also bothered layup attempts and sometimes outright forced a change of plans on a driving player.

In the final stretch of the quarter, the amount of corner 3s for the Hawks started to get concerning. The Hawks play very spaced out but it seemed like it was way too easy to goad the Mavs into leaving someone open in the corner. These opportunities really never went away for Atlanta and 11-13 sequence from three was a big part of their second half. The Hawks offense certainly searches for this with people always running to the corners, drives to the basket and outlet passes.

A rough defense might just also be the natural consequence of the lack of size in a Mavs unit with Brunson (who i was very high on for his spot on the draft) and Barea. However, their combination of energetic and spacey guys like Kleber/Powell was pretty nice on offense, and seemed to have more pace and player movement off the ball than the starters. I enjoyed them again when playing with Barea/DSJ/Doncic to start the fourth.

The sign of a strong momentum came form a series of plays where Atlanta went on transition out of a combination of Dallas turnovers and a Sahara-dry shooting spell. Kent Bazemore is legit good. Dedmond and him are two very real candidates for a trade that can help a team with playoff aspirations. The combination of Prince and Len was also very good at stopping Doncic feasting off Jordan screens.

I don't really want to undersell how great the comeback from Atlanta was. 31-9 run! Interesting to see how much the Mavs were affected by losing control of the game. I have no idea what Wes was doing here. He covers nothing and stands in no man's land leaving an open and red hot Kent Bazemore in the corner.

For all the criticism i give DSJ, he was a big part of pumping the breaks on that flow. His transition play and speed are ridiculous. Bazemore's foul trouble was a blow and the bulk of the third had to be played with him sitting after carrying that offense. This period would've translated into a much more dominant lead if Dallas hadn't shot 2-15 from three, a LOT of those pretty open.

While I enjoyed Trae spending most of the first quarter looking to set teammates up (He's attempting over nine 3s per game but only tried one during this period), he really struggled for almost the entire game. 3 fouls with 10 minutes to go until halftime sure didn't help. He would give sings of life at the most pressing time though. That spin on DSJ with the VC screen was a thing of beauty and in both plays he takes Luka head on.

The biggest moment from crunch time was the Kent dunk, and just how the Dallas defense was (worryingly) easily opened up by the PnR. Kleber gets stuck on Len's screen and DJ never really moves during the action, the main reason for the breakdown. Once Len was so distant from him he should've prepared for Bazemore. There also seems to be a slight hesitation between Doncic and Barea on whether they should switch in the backdoor cut. That same hesitation stops him from rotating in time to contest the shot without it being a certain foul. There is an escape valve with Carter if that should happen because Wes is not even thinking about rotating there, not taking his eyes out a decoy in the form of Trae Young.

This win has to feel nice for Atlanta. Foul trouble on Young, Kent and Prince (albeit all in different parts of the game), an awful shooting night from their star rookie and 26 point deficit almost a third into the game counter a narrative that focuses only on the 11-13 long range spell. Meanwhile, Dallas really has to improve defending the three because, while their own shooting will have better days, it was an embarrassment of riches in terms of chances for the Hawks.

Other notes:

Matthews took too many shots for how streaky he is but i'm sure that's a merely a function of not having Barnes to do a lot of those for him. We'll see how it looks once he's is back. Jordan also never gets the ball in the post, ever.

Are we sure DSJ needs to be a primary ball-handler? I don't like this democratic distribution of the point role, specifically for this case. I'm still not sure that his future isn't more off ball unless it's transition or pushing for a early drive to the basket.

Brunson may never have the physical tools but it's so clear that he understands the theory on where to be and he tries really hard to keep up. It might just be one of those cases where the body can't keep up with the mind.

(Reddit)