Despite losing five straight games due to both superstars being out from injuries, players missing time due to suspensions, as well as an illness that spread all around the team, the Dallas Mavericks were able to bounce back with two straight victories before dropping a competitive contest against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Dallas will take on the Nuggets at home in the second game of a baseball-style series this evening, and they could be getting some much-needed aid in the form of Kyrie Irving returning from his lumbar back sprain that has kept him out five games, as Irving has been listed as questionable on the latest injury report for the Mavericks.
With Luka Doncic missing a prolonged stretch due to his calf strain, the Mavericks could desperately use Irving's three-level scoring and playmaking ability in their half-court offense, as Dallas' struggles to consistently create offense without their superstars have been well-documented this season.
With that being said though, the Mavericks were forced to adapt in this recent stretch with some of the vacancies in their lineup, which has led to a growing phenomenon of role players being able to display their full bag on the offensive end. While this hasn't paid dividends throughout this entire recent stretch, there's definitely been some positive growth in this area over the past three games or so, particularly when it comes to Klay Thompson's two-man game with Dereck Lively II.
Thompson has been excellent in the two-man game with Lively II
Thompson has been forced to handle the rock more with Doncic and Irving out obviously, and though he's had a few blunders in the shooting department recently, the gravity that he draws as a shooter is unparalleled. This has led to Dallas using Thompson's playmaking abilities more often, especially when the lengthy and stout presence of Lively II can act as a deterrent in dribble-hand-off scenarios.
For instance, in Dallas' recent victory over the Nuggets, Thompson would often funnel the ball to Lively II at the nail or free throw line area before relocating for an open shot once the defense collapsed onto Lively II. There were also plenty of instances where Thompson bluffed that initial action and went straight into the pick and roll with Lively II, as Lively II's passing prowess as a big man makes it extremely hard for opposing defenses to guess what the Mavericks will do when these two run actions together.
Thompson inevitably won't be delegating as much offense once the Mavericks return to full strength, but this period has been a great opportunity for him to get more reps under his belt as a secondary initiator in Dallas' offense, as his ability to get a bucket on a lost possession occasionally is one of the main reasons the Mavericks traded for him this past offseason.
While Irving and Doncic will definitely run their fair share of pick and rolls with Lively II once they are both back in the lineup, head coach Jason Kidd should definitely consider installing more actions with Lively II and Thompson together, as the combination of the two is simply a spacing nightmare for defenses given Lively II's tantalizing athleticism and Thompson's movement shooting ability.