3 Studs, 2 duds in Mavericks’ home loss against hot Clippers

3. Stud - Jaden Hardy

In what was most likely his best game of the season, Jaden Hardy shined. In his 23 minutes of play, Hardy shot an impressive 5-9 from behind the arc and dropped 15 points.

Hardy was one of the few Mavericks in last night’s loss with a positive plus/minus. What really stood out as to why Hardy thrived on the court was due to the fact he has finally slowly started to accept his role of being a catch-and-shoot player for this team, rather than a constant shot creator.

Hardy was on the court in the first half of the fourth quarter, which was where the Mavericks had regained the lead, but the Mavs would lose the lead once again in the final minutes when Jason Kidd chose to sub out Hardy.

Although Hardy is not the best defender, if the Mavs coaching staff can find a way to utilize him on the floor offensively while also giving him a decent matchup on the defensive side of the floor, he could possibly have a set-in-stone role in the future.

After having a performance like this, Jason Kidd could give Hardy these minutes over Seth Curry in tomorrow's matchup against the Rockets.