Dallas Mavericks: Should fans be worried about the offense?

Dallas Mavericks need more shot creation on offense

Another issue that was on full display against the Hawks was the team’s lack of shot creation. On the first two possessions of the game, Dallas had Tim Hardaway Jr. bring the ball up the floor, and they worked it to Dorian Finney-Smith posting up Trae Young. It was something fans would never see under Rick Carlisle.

The Mavs only had eight post-ups in the game before fans get too worried, but the team finished one of four and did not get an assist off of them according to NBA Stats.

Coach Jason Kidd has talked about getting the ball out of Luka’s hands more this season as they felt like he wore down late in games from overuse. Doncic led the NBA in time of possession last season because the Mavericks do not have enough shot creators, and the front office did little to address that issue in the offseason.

The Mavs turned to Trey Burke in the fourth quarter as they were searching for someone to spark the offense, which is something Carlisle did last season too. Burke played in 62 of 72 regular-season games because Dallas needed someone that could get a bucket. This is no knock on Trey Burke, who is fine a player, but not ideally someone that plays in every game.

Dallas had 16 assists in their season opener, and Luka Doncic produced seven of them. Burke had two off the bench in the fourth quarter and Frank Ntilikina got one late after the game was decided. The rest of the team only had six assists all night to underscore the team’s need for someone that can create shots.