Dallas Mavericks: 5 things the team needs to make the Western Conference Finals

How can Dallas Mavericks make the Western Conference Finals? 1. Take and make threes at a high clip

The Mavericks are a 36.5 percent 3-point shooting team on the season. With all the attention given to KP in the post and Luka on drives, every Mavs player needs to be ready to make a three. Seth Curry, Tim Hardaway Jr, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Maxi Kleber’s ability to hit triples will determine how far Dallas goes in the playoffs.

Against the Rockets, the Mavs shot 42.9 from three and were up by seven with 45 seconds to go. They gave themselves a chance to win that game with their shooting. Against the Suns, the Mavs shot 19.4 percent from three and lost. The Mavs had no business going to overtime against the Kings and had to be bailed out by Luka because they shot 22.0 percent from long range.

Doncic has been extremely effective at getting to the rim and finishing. That should continue and as he continues to attack teams will collapse into the paint. To overcome the defensive adjustments and put defenses in a catch-22, the Mavericks perimeter players need to make their threes off the drive and kick action.

Good teams will punish the Mavs for their mistakes. As a young team, they are going to make many mistakes. To overcome and hide some of those, the Dallas Mavericks need to shoot well from 3-point range in the postseason.