Mavericks wing finally proves he can conquer glaring weakness holding Dallas back

Despite another abysmal shooting performance, the Dallas Mavericks edged out a gritty 111-105 victory over the Washington Wizards (1-9) on Saturday evening. While the Wizards aren't the best barometer for measuring success, the Mavericks will take anything they can get at this juncture in the season, as this loss doesn't patch the Mavericks' horrendous offensive start whatsoever.

However, one must give credit where it's due, as the Mavericks played with tremendous effort in this contest after dropping four straight games, and while the likes of Brandon Williams and P.J. Washington both had phenomenal two-way performances, the Mavericks wouldn't have won this game if it weren't for Naji Marshall and his improved shooting.

Marshall had a season-high 30 points off 9-14 shooting from the field in the contest, knifing into the lane off cuts to hit floaters and runners, while also getting to the rim off the dribble and being a great transition finisher. But what was more massive than ever for the Mavericks was him shooting 3-4 from outside, and it was desperately needed for Marshall as well, considering he was 3-20 on 3-pointers through nine games heading into this contest.

Naji Marshall shooting well could elevate Mavs' offense tremendously

Marshall made a point of emphasis to work on his outside shooting this summer, as he shot just 27.5 percent from distance last year for the Mavericks, despite coming off a career-high 38.7 percent from downtown in 66 games played with the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2023-24 season. Marshall improved as a shooter as the season went on last year, but another slow start from outside was not what he or Dallas needed this season, especially considering the Mavericks' offensive woes.

Marshall is never going to be an absurdly high-volume 3-point shooter, but he'd only taken 2.2 3-pointers per game before the Washington game, as he took a career high 3.2 shots from outside last season for comparison. It's still very early, and the Wizards are just as bad, if not worse than the Mavericks, but this game was a microcosm of how Marshall stepping into shots from outside with confidence can change Dallas' offense for the better.

Marshall has already proven to be one of the most dynamic slashers from the wing position when fully dialed in, and he's a decent playmaker on the move, so opposing teams often try and gamble on him not being able to cash from outside, as that's a much better fate than letting Marshall pester them with his wildly efficient in-between game.

If Marshall can just be decent from outside, and make 1-2 per game, while shooting around league average from outside (33-34 percent), than that could prompt a bigger role for him and give the Mavericks another 3-6 points every game, which is a lot more than it sounds considering how many of these games are won within the margins.

Of course, Marshall shooting better from outside isn't the sole solution to Dallas' offensive shortcomings by any means, but it's definitely something that could help keep the ship afloat until Kyrie Irving returns from injury.