Patience or panic on 5 Dallas Mavericks issues from the season opening loss to Suns?

Patience on Dorian Finney-Smith struggling for Dallas Mavericks on opening night

Finney-Smith led the Mavericks with 38 minutes, but he was quiet in the season opener. The 6’7 wing finished with five points, three rebounds, and two steals on two of four shooting from the field. He did commit four personal fouls and the Mavs were outscored by ten points with Doe-Doe on the floor. Not much stood out from Finney-Smith against the Suns.

There will be quiet games as he concentrates on defending the opposition’s best scorer and knocking down 3-pointers. The Suns were not eager to leave Doe-Doe open on Wednesday night, so he got just two attempts from long range. Finney-Smith primarily guarded Devin Booker, who finished with 28 points and nine assists in 41 minutes of action.

Fans know the Mavericks wing will not be happy with his defensive performance. Dallas had a 119.4 defensive rating with Finney-Smith on the floor in the opener, and he will be fired up to drop that number on Saturday night against Memphis.

Doe-Doe is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and he is criminally underrated. It did not show in the opener, but he will bounce back soon enough. There should be patience with Dorian Finney-Smith and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks' defense. The team will come together and play significantly better on that end of the floor down the stretch.