5 Massive strengths, 5 weaknesses for Mavericks heading into playoffs

The Dallas Mavericks only have four games remaining on their schedule after going through a roller coaster of a regular season. The Mavericks have dealt with injuries to key players for prolonged stretches, inconsistent rotations within their lineups, as well as multiple players being traded at the trade deadline just within one calendar NBA regular season.

However, Dallas has stood extremely tall against adversity this season, as MVP candidate Luka Doncic and co-star Kyrie Irving have done an outstanding job of leading the charge for the vastly improved post-trade deadline Mavericks.

The scorching Mavericks have won 15 out of their last 17 contests, and have placed themselves in prime position to secure the fifth seed in the Western Conference as well as a chance at the 50-win mark, something that seemed almost outlandish just a few weeks ago when Dallas had lost five out of six games right after the All-Star break.

5 Massive strengths, 5 weaknesses for Mavericks heading into playoffs

As much momentum as Dallas currently has, we all know the playoffs are a different animal, so perhaps it's a good time to analyze the Mavericks' greatest strengths and weaknesses heading into the playoffs. As well as the Mavericks are playing most of their weaknesses aren't too detrimental, but unfortunately, the playoffs are all about winning within the margins, so the Mavericks must be extremely prepared for what's to come.

Without further ado, here are the Mavericks' five greatest strengths, and five weaknesses heading into the playoffs.

10. Weakness: 3-point shooting off the bench

The Dallas Mavericks made their mark early on in the season as a live-and-die-by-the-three type of team, but after the trade deadline Dallas' self identification as a team has certainly changed. Don't get it twisted, Dallas is still an above-average team from downtown, as they currently have the 11th best 3-point team percentage in the NBA at 37.3 percent for the entire season.

However, there are certain gaps within the Mavericks rotation where reliable 3-point shooting isn't near as prevalent as it was at the beginning of the season for the Mavericks. This can be attributed to a variety of factors, but one of the more noticeable reasons for Dallas' drop off in 3-point shooting outside of their starting-five is Tim Hardaway Jr.'s massive shooting slump earlier this season.

Hardaway Jr. is finally starting to revert back to the mean ever so slightly in terms of his 3-point shooting over this recent stretch, but the 31-year-old guard was far more of a consistent force from outside earlier in the season for Dallas. The Mavericks are also currently missing Josh Green due to an ankle sprain, and while Green projects to be back before the playoffs, it may be tough for him to come in guns-a-blazing in terms of picking up where he left off with his 40.1 percent clip from downtown on the season.

After parting with Seth Curry at the trade deadline, the Mavericks have been left without a true marksman off the bench, something that they'd like to have in their back pocket come Playoff time regardless of how Curry played for Dallas earlier this season. Dante Exum has been extremely consistent from 3-point range, but he's not a high-volume shooter, unfortunately.

The Mavericks are particularly dense in terms of their 3-point shooting off the bench right now, but that could easily change if Dallas starts shooting better across the board ahead of the playoffs. The Mavericks can get by with lackluster shooting in the surrounding lineup to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving when both stars are on the floor, but it will be vital to the Mavericks' success in the playoffs that they can shoot well enough when only one of their stars is in the game.

9. Strength: Interior defense

Ever since the Dallas Mavericks added Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington to this team at the trade deadline, it's been no secret that the Mavericks' interior defense has improved tenfold. Gafford is a physical and athletic presence down low, a caliber of rim protector that the Mavericks arguably haven't had since Tyson Chandler, and Washington has done extremely well as a help-side defender when having to rotate over as the low-man.

Washington and Gafford's activity and length on defense has been extremely disruptive for the Mavericks, and it's showing in the statistical realm as well.

Per NBA.com, the Mavericks rank fifth in opponent points in the paint in the post All-Star segment of this season, a development that can certainly be accredited toward Dallas' trade deadline acquisitions as well as how Maxi Kleber and Dereck Lively II have defended the interior coming off the bench.

Recently, the Mavericks have shown a great level of lineup flexibility with the way Kleber has been able to defend opposing fives whilst Gafford is resting, which has been crucial for the Mavericks when you take into consideration that Lively II is dealing with a knee sprain at the moment.

The Mavericks' interior defense has become the backbone of their identity, and it will continue to be one of their biggest strengths heading into the playoffs unless Lively II's recent minor injuries culminate into something worse or Dallas suffers another injury down low.

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.

7. Strength: Transition offense and ability to create turnovers

The Mavericks don't have a deficiency of athleticism on this team heading into the playoffs for once, as Nico Harrison has structured this team around Irving and Doncic with lengthy and athletic defenders. This has given the Mavericks the ability to get out in transition fast, especially when you take into consideration how much Irving and Doncic have bought into pushing the tempo offensively for the Mavericks this season.

With only a few games left until the summation of the regular season, the Mavericks rank fifth in the entire NBA in fast-break points at 15.7 per game after finishing dead last in the league in the same statistical category just one season earlier. Irving and Doncic have made a point of emphasis to push the ball ahead off of long misses and turnovers all season, but the likes of Derrick Jones Jr. Josh Green, and Dante Exum have really bought in toward running the floor hard at every opportunity despite their immense defensive workload.

Equally important to the Mavericks success in transition has been their ability to generate turnovers, as the Mavericks are slightly ahead of the middle of the pack this season with 13.8 opponent turnovers per game. However, the Mavericks have been far more handsy recently in terms of getting steals and blocks, as the Mavericks starting lineup shift just 15 games ago has bolstered the Mavericks ability to generate turnovers and subsequent fast-break situations with how lengthy and committed Dallas is across the board on defense.

Irving and Doncic have done a great job at using their basketball IQ to get steals all season as well, so unless teams somehow pick them apart on defense in the playoffs, the Mavericks should project for their ability to generate turnovers as well as their transition offense to both be huge strengths in the playoffs.

6. Weakness: Health

As well as the Dallas Mavericks have played throughout this recent stretch, the injury bug has not been kind to this team all season long. While the Mavericks may have avoided injuries to superstar's Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving throughout most junctures this season, role players such as Dante Exum, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, and Dereck Lively II have all missed a significant amount of games for the Mavericks this season.

Most pointedly, Green and Lively II are out with an ankle and knee sprain respectively as Dallas approaches the playoffs. Green and Lively II play integral roles for this Mavericks team and are arguably Dallas' two most important pieces off the bench, so while it's great to see the Mavericks churning through adversity to win games at the moment, re-integrating Green and Lively II back into the lineup will be crucial for Dallas' success in the playoffs.

This will not be an easy process as both players are coming off of injuries that have held them out for longer than a week, and nearly a month in Green's instance. While it seems inevitable that both Green and Lively II will return for the playoffs based on reporting, it's not guaranteed that either of them will get to play before the end of the regular season, and they'll only have a few games at best to get their feet back under them before the playoffs.

The Mavericks clearly haven't had the most healthy season, especially in this recent stretch, but they can at least be thankful that they project to be at full strength heading into the playoffs, as that's certainly not the case for every team in the league. While injuries have plagued the Mavericks all season, we can only hope that their health becomes a strength for them if they continue to go deeper in the playoffs.

5. Strength: Rebounding and physicality

While rebounding was a glaring weakness at one point in the season for Dallas, the Mavericks' physicality on the glass has been a huge strength recently. Dallas has a lot of players on their roster who maintain a pedigree of hustling hard and giving maximum effort, but those aren't the only determinant factors for how well an NBA team rebounds unfortunately.

After the Mavericks added P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford at the trade deadline, it was very clear that Dallas would have a chance to win much more 50/50 balls when you take into consideration Washington and Gafford's blend of coordination and athleticism on the defensive end. Things are finally starting to turn in the right direction from a rebounding perspective now that Washington and Gafford are fully acclimated into Dallas' lineup and it's showing on the stat sheet.

The Mavericks are top five in rebounds per game in the league over the last 15 games, and top 10 in contested rebounds per game in that same stretch. This shift in Dallas' rebounding can also be attributed to Jason Kidd's decision to start Derrick Jones Jr. over Josh Green, as Jones Jr. has much more length and athleticism to grab both offensive and defensive rebounds compared to Green.

The Mavericks have been doing an extremely good job rebounding without the likes of Dereck Lively II as well, as his addition back into Dallas' lineup will bolster the Mavericks rebounding even further, especially when you take into consideration that Maxi Kleber will play much more minutes at the four when Lively II returns to the lineup.

We haven't even talked about how well Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have rebounded this year, as the duo is averaging 14.2 combined rebounds per game this season, a number Mavericks fans will definitely take when one considers Irving is only 6-foot-2. The Mavericks have buy-in on the glass from everyone in their rotation even their superstars, so hopefully they can continue this trend heading into the playoffs.

4. Weakness: Point-of-attack defense

You may be wondering why we’ve listed the Mavericks’ point-of-attack defense as an area of weakness when the Mavericks have done a pretty good job at defending the point-of-attack ever since Derrick Jones Jr. was inserted into Dallas’ starting five. While all of that is true though, the Mavericks have had stretches this season where they’ve gotten exposed at the point-of-attack on defense by smaller wings and guards.

This comes off the heels of Josh Green having a less than ideal defensive season for Dallas, as the Australian native has missed a fair chunk of games for the Mavericks and hasn’t improved upon some of his defensive intangibles this season despite his athletic tools. Green has shown stretches where he can be a versatile defender that can guard 1-3, but it hasn’t been consistent enough. Dante Exum has done a great job at defending guards off the bench for the Mavericks this season, but Dallas doesn’t always have the luxury to match Exum up with smaller wings and guards depending on their lineup combinations as well as who they are playing.

Derrick Jones Jr. has All-Defensive Team caliber speed and length, as he’s showcased that he is easily the Mavericks best point-of-attack defender this season. However, Jones Jr. and Exum can’t be Dallas’ only answer at the point-of-attack, as the Mavericks occasionally get worked by opposing teams who have enough ball handlers in their lineup to exploit Dallas’ weaker defenders (i.e. games against Boston earlier this season).

While this isn’t one of the Mavericks’ biggest weaknesses, it’s an area on defense that has been volatile for the Mavericks all season, especially when you take into consideration that Tim Hardaway Jr. is a minus defender and Green and Exum have been out of the lineup with injuries throughout various stretches this season. If the Mavericks are fully healthy and Green is playing slightly better on defense then this likely won’t be an area of concern with how well Irving and Doncic have played defensively lately, but the Mavericks will need to be wary of this heading into the playoffs still.

3. Strength: Playoff experience

The Dallas Mavericks have certainly gotten younger this season, as the team now has a much more fair composition of younger and older players compared to in the 2022-23 season. The average age of the Mavericks this season is 26.6-years-old, compared to 28.4-years-old in the 2022-23 season.

However, just cause the Mavericks are marginally younger now, does not mean that this team lacks Playoff experience as we head toward the postseason. Dallas is obviously spearheaded by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, both of whom have a ton of Playoff experience even though Doncic just turned 25 years old in February. We all know how much Irving has been able to step up in the most crucial moments since he’s been with the Mavericks, but this is obviously nothing new to Irving as he’s come through in the clutch in plenty of deep Playoff runs and runs to the NBA Finals.

Dallas doesn’t just have playoff experience, but they have two players in Irving and Doncic who have both come up huge in multiple playoff series, something that a team such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves lack in comparison to Dallas for instance. The Mavericks are battle-tested without a doubt, but they still have a few players who are getting their first big moments in the playoffs such as P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II.

Everyone else on the Mavericks barring some of the rookies and two-way players have playoff experience, but Dallas’ poise in tight situations will certainly need to come from Irving and Doncic, as their experience in leading a team at the highest level is truly invaluable for this Mavericks’ roster.

The Mavericks’ playoff experience is certainly a strength despite it not being completely idealistic, so it’s something that the Mavericks will need to hang their hat on when the postseason finally arrives.

2. Weakness: Transition defense

Despite how athletic the Mavericks are across the board, transition defense has been one of the Mavericks' most longstanding issues all season. This can be attributed to a variety of factors, but Luka Doncic complaining to referees and not getting back on defense is certainly part of the problem for the Mavericks despite Doncic's greatness.

Doncic's complaining in tandem with the Mavericks not showing enough effort to get back on defense after turnovers and long misses is the largest reason for this development, but the problem was certainly worse before the trade deadline. The Mavericks have been able to propel their transition defense to 17th in the NBA for the entire season, a far better mark than they displayed earlier this season.

The Mavericks increased athleticism that they added at the trade deadline has been one of the reasons that they've been able to recover quicker in transition recently, but it has also taken a team-wide effort to do a better job at hustling to get back on defense. With as talented as NBA players are nowadays, even 5-on-4 scenarios are extremely advantageous for NBA offense in today's league, so the Mavericks must ensure their effort is consistent across the board in terms of hustling back on defense once the playoffs arrive.

We can give Dallas credit for performing better in this area recently, but they still haven't shown that their transition defense matches the caliber of athletes that the Mavericks have, as they could arguably have some of the best transition defense in the entire league with their personnel. Hopefully the Mavericks continue to improve upon this area, as there are plenty of teams that will be in the Western Conference playoffs that like to get out and run.

1. Strength: Team chemistry and unselfishness

The Dallas Mavericks have exhibited a true bond for one another all season, as we could see signs of camaraderie building between the Mavericks all the way back during their preseason trip in Abu Dhabi. That camaraderie has carried over, as the Mavericks have players on their roster that epitomize the culture that Dallas has wanted to create.

This culture starts at the top with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, as the dynamic duo have displayed that they have a true friendship for each other that goes beyond the basketball court. This is something that the Mavericks can’t take for granted, as there are plenty of NBA teams who don’t have the luxury of their superstars having good chemistry between one another.

The Mavericks have found a way to get everyone on their roster to buy into team success, regardless of ancillary factors such as lack of playing time for certain players. This can be evidenced by how excited the Mavericks bench gets when something exciting happens in a game for Dallas, as the Mavericks have one of the most lively benches in the NBA regardless of who is in the game.

The Mavericks' unselfish culture will be huge for their success in the playoffs, as the Mavericks have translated their off-court chemistry to the hardwood with the selfless style of basketball that they are playing in this recent stretch.

Regardless of Dallas’ matchup in the playoffs, they will win the team chemistry battle against most teams that they play against, so this certainly projects to be one of Dallas’ biggest strongholds as they enter the postseason.

For more on the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the NBA Playoffs, stay tuned as we’ll have you covered.