Averaged 59 points and 15 assists per game!The league's strongest singles duo is more likely to be a dark horse than the Lakers and Warriors
On March 31, Beijing time, although the competition in the West is still very fierce, but for now, the ranking of the West is gradually becoming clearer, the Timberwolves, Thunder and Nuggets are the top three in the West, and the difference between them is only half a win difference, so the ranking competition between the three teams will be fierce, but the third Nuggets are 4.5 wins away from the fourth Clippers, and it can be said that the top three in the West are basically these three teams by the end of the season.
The fourth-place Clippers are now 1.5 wins ahead of the fifth-place Pelicans, although the gap is not very large, but according to the strength of the Clippers, it should not be a big problem to ensure the fourth, and the fifth-place Pelicans are half a win away from the sixth-place Mavericks, because Ingram is injured, so the Pelicans may fall, and the Mavericks are expected to enter the top five in the division, but it is estimated that this is their ceiling, after all, there is a big gap with the first four wins.
After 7-10 is considered a first-tier team, the seventh Suns are half a win away from the eighth Kings, the eighth Kings are now the ninth Lakers with a 1.5-game difference, Monk has been injured recently, which may affect the Kings' record, the Lakers are now 1.5 wins ahead of the tenth Warriors, it can be said that if nothing else, these teams can prepare for the play-offs in advance, and if the Suns, Warriors and Lakers no matter which two of them are in the play-offs, I believe the top three in the West do not want to touch them.
Because they have experience and top stars, it is difficult to defeat them, and a young and inexperienced team like the Thunder will be hacked if they don't do well, but in contrast, maybe the top three in the division are not most afraid of them now, even if the Lakers have Zhan Mei, the Warriors have their previous championship-winning core lineup, and the Suns have the Big Three, in comparison, they may be more afraid of the Mavericks, if the Mavericks are ranked sixth, or if they accidentally fall into the play-offs, the top three in the West probably don't want to touch them.
If you put it at the beginning of the season, in the Western powerhouse, there is really no team that will put the Mavericks in their eyes, it is true that your Irving and Doncic have strong singles ability, but your defense is poor and the duo has no chemistry, they are destined to be difficult to succeed, so the duo played very well at the beginning of the season, and the team is only among the play-offs, but recently as the season is coming to an end, their duo not only found chemistry, the team also played dominant, 9 wins in the last 10 games!
The reason why the Mavericks were able to play so well is thanks to the fact that they got PJ Washington and Gafford at the trade deadline, they sent two first-round picks and multiple blue-collar picks, if they were left to other teams, they could use these chips to exchange for stars, but the Mavericks just exchanged for their own blue-collar workers, after the arrival of Washington and Gafford arrived, the Mavericks' defense has been significantly improved, and their offense is still very good.
There was no chemistry at the beginning of the season, and now the chemistry is better, both are used to each other's style of play, and the division of labor is also very clear, in the first three quarters of Irving's recuperation, follow the team's paddling to preserve physical fitness, Doncic relied on the performance of offense and passing in the first three quarters to lead the team, if the first three quarters of the opponent is the best, if the game does not collapse, then Doncic's physical fitness is not good, and then Irving will be harvested.
Irving's favorite thing to do is this, he has the title of the king of the last quarter, has a single ability that is not inferior to Doncic, and even said that the singles ability of both of them are the top five in the league, relying on Irving's excellent harvesting ability, they can win most of the games, according to American media statistics, when playing key balls this season, the Mavericks have a record of 21 wins and 8 losses, with a winning rate of 72.4%, ranking first in the league.
This is the terrifying strength of their dual core, the current Eastern European combination, a bit like the combination of James and Irving back then, role players do a good job of defense, just watch them play alone to harvest the game, Doncic played an average of 2.6 points and 0.8 assists in 3.2 minutes per game at a critical moment this season, with a three-point shooting rate of 40%, second in the league in assists. Irving averaged 3.8 points per game in key moments this season, shooting 61% from the field and 50% from three-point range, ranking third in the league in points per game and first in the league with a plus/minus of +4.
They are the only pair in the league who average 25+5+5 per game, Irving can average 25.4 points, 5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game this season, Doncic can average 33.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game, averaging 59 points and 15 assists per game, which is terrifying, and they have also defeated the Nuggets, Thunder and Kings in recent times.
If the Nuggets or the Timberwolves are allowed to choose, they would rather play the Lakers with James and thick eyebrows, and they are not willing to touch the current Mavericks, according to the current momentum of the Mavericks, they may have the opportunity to impact the division finals, this team is integrated in offense and defense, and the core is at its peak, and the strength is far beyond their ranking.