Dallas Mavericks need to unleash J.J. Barea with Luka Doncic out

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic is out for at least one game with an ankle injury, and the team needs to play J.J. Barea during his absence.

The Dallas Mavericks practiced on Thursday ahead of their upcoming back-to-back set. It was going well until Luka Doncic injured his ankle. He was quickly ruled out for Friday’s game in Houston. Fans looking for more should click here.

The Mavs dealt with a similar situation in mid-December. Doncic turned his ankle in the first quarter against the Heat on Dec. 14. He missed the next four games. The Mavericks split the pair with Jalen Brunson stepping up and filling in as the starting point guard.

J.J. Barea did not play a second during the four games Luka was out. That is surprising considering Coach Rick Carlisle turns to the veteran to steady the ship. Barea did play 13 minutes on the night Doncic was injured. He responded with 12 points and five assists.

Need Barea now

Carlisle needs to use him this time. Barea is coming off arguably his best game of the season. He had 15 points and seven assists in 22.5 minutes of action against the Suns. The 35-year-old runs the offense to perfection and is always finding ways to get easy scores.

Some will question Barea’s defense especially after tearing his Achilles last season. That is fair, but the Mavericks have outscored the opposition mightily with him on the floor. They are plus-42 in his 217 minutes this season.

Coach Carlisle should pick his spots to use Barea. Inserting him against second units has always worked well. The Mavericks traded for Willie Cauley-Stein recently. He should be an excellent pick and roll partner for Barea.

Inevitably, the Mavs will fall behind and need a boost during Luka’s absence. They should bring on J.J. to get them back on track.

Keep an eye on how Carlisle runs the rotations in the coming games. The Dallas Mavericks will be trying to integrate Cauley-Stein plus dealing with the absence of Doncic. Expect plenty of moving parts as they figure it out.