Dallas Mavericks: Carlisle Still Has It, 2011 Deja Vu

When it seemed like nothing could go right for the Dallas Mavericks, it suddenly seems like nothing can go wrong.

With three games left in the regular season, Dallas has gone from competing for one of the last playoff spots in the West, to challenging Memphis for the sixth seed. For the first time in six games, Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points, but the big German wasn’t the star of the game.

In a time when the Mavericks needed it most, Rick Carlisle has shown that he’s still got it. With Deron Williams and Chandler Parsons out with injuries, the Mavericks have somehow found their identity and cohesion, and are playing the team style of basketball that everyone is used to.

The Mavericks have cranked up the pressure on defense, and in six straight games have held all opponents under 93 points. The second longest streak in team history.

JJ Barea, largely responsible for the Mavericks six game win streak, left last nights game with a groin injury. He only played eight minutes in the game, but for fans watching the game, it was like deja vu of 2011 – plenty of defensive grit, hustle plays, and all around team basketball.

Moved into the starting lineup on March 28, Mavs rookie Justin Anderson has started the last six games. In that span he has averaged 9.1 points per game, 27:5 minutes per game, and 7.1 rebounds per game. On Friday night against Memphis, Anderson logged career minutes, 37:38, career points, 19, and tied his career rebounds with 10. It was his first double double of the season.

With the playoffs in their grasp, the Mavericks face two of the top four teams in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs.

Entering the final games it will be interesting to see if Carlisle’s magic lineup with Barea and Anderson continues to work, depending on the status of Barea’s injury. But either way, the Mavericks are still figuring out how to win by committee.

“I’m not proud of anything yet. We’ve got to get to the playoffs and we’ve got to get the best possible seed. That’s really what this is about. This is no time to pat ourselves on the back.” – Rick Carlisle

Against Memphis, 10 of 11 Mavericks that stepped on the court scored, five in double figures. The Mavericks had 18 total assist, 14 of which came from Raymond Felton.

Even though the Mavericks are riding high on a six game win streak, it is hard to tell if Dallas will be able to keep the energy up that has propelled them through the last six games.

David Lee and Salah Mejri continue to be phenomenal off of the bench, in performance and attitude, but if Barea is unable to return soon, and with Williams still out, the Mavericks lack significant depth at point guard.

One option for Dallas would be to call up Patrick Miller with the Texas Legends, if Barea continues to remain out. Miller averages 11.5 points and 4.1 assists per game, but it is very unlikely that Carlisle will do that. Chances are, he won’t want to mess with the cohesion the Mavericks have been playing with recently. The other option would be to try and sign another point guard, Baron Davis anyone? Kidding, but once again, I doubt that is likely. The plan will be to hope and pray that Barea can return, at least for the playoffs.

After a rough stretch of shooting, Dirk Nowitzki finally found his touch, more or less, even though he missed a couple of wide open threes in the 4th quarter. But never fear, Dirk has shown this season that he still has the ability to take over games, and in the past, April has proven to be his month.

In April last year, the Mavericks were +8.6 with Nowitzki on the court. He averaged 19 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the floor. In 2013-2014, he was even better, averaging 24 points while shooting 57 percent from the field.

Needless to say, don’t give up on the big guy just yet, cause I have a feeling he will come through when the Mavs need him most.