5 Massive strengths, 5 weaknesses for Mavericks heading into playoffs

8. Weakness: Lack of playmaking and shot creation outside of Irving and Doncic

Despite how great Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have been for the Mavericks in all facets of the game on offense, that doesn't mean that the Mavericks aren't prone to the well drying up offensively when one of Irving or Doncic is off the floor. Simple as it may be, there aren't a lot of teams with enough point-of-attack defense to derail the Mavericks spacing when they have the threat of both Irving and Doncic as playmakers in the game.

However, the Mavericks have oftentimes found themselves devoid of offensive creation when only one of Irving or Doncic is on the court this season, barring occasional spurts of offensive creation from Dante Exum or Josh Green. Tim Hardaway Jr. shifting from a potential Sixth Man of-the Year candidate to a far less consistent shooter and scorer off-the-dribble definitely hasn't helped Dallas' offensive creation outside of Irving or Doncic either, but it does seem like the Mavericks are slowly creeping toward a remedy for this issue.

Jaden Hardy is really adept at finishing through tight spaces and getting downhill, but the second-year guard has been a less consistent as a shooter for the Mavericks this season. To his credit, Hardy has also been on the fringes of the rotation all season, and is just now starting to carve out a somewhat consistent role in Jason Kidd's rotation as the Mavericks approach the playoffs.

Hardy could be the remedy for Dallas' lack of a dynamic third ball handler if he gets more minutes, but he'll need to continue to prove that he can shoot well enough and keep the turnovers down on a consistent basis if he wants to edge himself into Dallas' Playoff rotation.

As aforementioned, Green and particularly Exum have done a great job of operating as pick-and-roll ball handlers as well as getting downhill to find shooters all season long. Exum has even shown the ability to stay poised late in the shot clock to create in the midrange for the Mavericks recently, but his shot-creation abilities could potentially be remediated against tighter playoff defenses.

That being said, the question of whether the Mavericks will have enough offensive creation to survive in the deeper rounds of the playoffs still prevails.