3：0！ 5 for 2! 3 for 1! 3 for 3! Cuban's vision is too poisonous, and after 13 years, they want to realize their dream of becoming a champion

There is no 24th in the rivers and lakes

2024-05-27 16:30Posted in Henan Sports Creators

Preface

Since winning the championship in 2011, the Mavericks have fallen silent again, and they haven't even made it to the Western Conference semifinals for the next decade. However, 2018 became another turning point in the history of the Mavericks, before the draft, Cuban personally called the Hawks owner, and he proposed to the latter to exchange his No. 5 pick and the 2019 draft pick for their No. 3 pick, and the two sides finally reached a deal, and the Mavericks also used this No. 3 pick to select their favorite Luka Doncic.

Soon after entering the league, Doncic proved how vicious Cuban's vision is, averaging 20+5+5 per game in his rookie season, and he became a top-five superstar in the league from the second year. Under Doncic's leadership, the Mavericks have once again become regulars in the playoffs and returned to the Western Conference finals in 2022. However, after missing the playoffs last year, many people began to question the decision of Cuban and Mavericks management, and at that time it seemed that Irving and Doncic were completely incompatible.

And now a year later, it turns out that the Mavericks are not wrong at all, and after spending a while to adapt to the team system, Irving finally integrated this season, averaging 25.6 points, 5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the regular season, shooting percentage and three-point shooting rate of 49.7% and 41.1% respectively. With Irving's help, the Mavericks won 50 wins in the regular season and made the playoffs as sixth in the West.

So far, Irving has averaged 22.4 points, 4 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the playoffs, with a shooting percentage of 49.2% and a three-point shooting rate of 44%. As the king of the final quarter of the playoffs, Irving's combined 114 points ranked first in the league, more than his teammate Doncic (101).

Irving can be said to have once again shown his "killer nature" in this year's playoffs, with him worthy of any team at critical moments for the Mavericks, and he has also proved that he is not a defensive hole, and even in some games he can be called an offensive and defensive one.

Although from the beginning of the playoffs, the Mavericks were the unfavored side, but the Mavericks only spoke with strength, defeating the old rival Clippers 4-2 in the first round and the No. 1 Thunder in the West 4-2 in the second round. After advancing to the Western Conference finals, many still believe that although the Mavericks have exceeded expectations in this year's playoffs, they will still not be a match for the Timberwolves, who eliminated the defending champion Nuggets, and their defense can be said to be indestructible.

However, after three games, the series has become 3-0, and the leading side is the Mavericks, who have always been unfavorable. Both sides were able to play to the end in these three games, but the Eastern European pair was significantly stronger than Edwards and Towns at key moments, and every game the Mavericks have won now has once again confirmed how good Cuban and the Mavericks are.

Now look at the chips that the Mavericks gave to Irving at the beginning, Dinwiddie, Finney Smith, and then added 1 first round and 2 second rounds, and finally not only exchanged for Irving, but also attached a veteran Morris as a "bodyguard", it seems to be 5 for 2, in fact, this deal Mavericks simply made a profit.

However, the Mavericks' success this year is obviously not only due to Doncic and Irving, their role players are also very reliable, and the two players who were traded in the middle of the regular season this season have become the pillars of the team.

Because the Mavericks' interior lineup before the trade deadline was so poor, Powell and Holmes couldn't even understand the regular season, and the only center the team could count on was rookie Lively. Therefore, the Mavericks took a fancy to the Wizards' Gafford and finally in a three-way trade, the Mavericks sent Holmes, and there was also a first-round pick and a first-round swap in exchange for Gafford. As soon as Gafford came to the Mavericks, he was fed the "pie king" by Doncic, who once hit 33 shots in a row, and his athleticism was simply too suitable to play next to Doncic.

In the 29 games he played for the Mavericks in the regular season, Gafford averaged 11.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.9 blocks per game, shooting 78% from the field. In the playoffs, Gafford still averaged 8.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, and his dunks and blocks always lit up the Mavericks' home court.

If Gafford was enough to prove himself against the Clippers and Thunder, who were relatively weak on the inside, then in this series against the Timberwolves, he completely justified himself, and he even scored 16 points on 80% shooting in G2, and he also delivered 5 blocks in that game. In the end, G3 also Gafford blocked Towns first, and then turned his head to receive Doncic's empty connection, and Gobert killed the game 2+1.

In addition to Gafford , the Mavericks' other regular-season addition was PJ Washington, when the Mavericks sent away Gwee and Seth Curry, who were just signed last offseason, in order to get him, and had to add a top-two first-round pick in 2027. The signing wasn't very promising at the time, as PJ Washington had been playing for a bad team like the Hornets before that, and he hadn't played a playoff game in four years, which made many fans question whether he could play in high-end games.

But now it seems that the fans are obviously overconcerned, PJ Washington quickly adapted to playing in the Mavericks, he focused more on defense, and on the offensive end he only needed to grasp those open threes, and occasionally cut and rush to grab the rebound in the frontcourt. In the regular season, PJ Washington was in the Mavericks, averaging 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game, and his performance was quite good, but the three-point instability still made some fans more worried.

However, in the playoffs, PJ Washington showed a better shooting form, and he punished his opponents well for encapsulating Eastern Europe, so he emptied his defensive strategy. So far, PJ Washington has averaged 14 points (third on the team), 6.8 rebounds (second on the team), and 1.3 assists per game, and the three-point shooting performance that everyone values is that he can average 2.5 three-pointers per game with a shooting rate of 37.4%.

On the defensive end, PJ Washington also defended George, Harden, Alexander, Jalen Williams, Edwards, Towns, these star players, although his leading defensive attributes are not as good as Jones, but because of his size, his defensive value is also very high. How far the Mavericks can go in the future, PJ Washington's open three-point grasp is still important, and if he can force opponents to stop looking at him, then the Mavericks can become stronger.

At the moment, the Mavericks' Finals are basically a certainty, and no team in history has ever been able to come back from a 0-3 deficit, so this will also be the Mavericks' most promising year since 2011 after 13 years.

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