The Dallas Mavericks fell at home to the Los Angeles Clippers 116-111 Sunday afternoon, despite coming back from a mammoth 31-point deficit. It certainly wasn't Kyrie Irving's fault, as the star guard scored 40 points on 56% shooting to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Two Maverick players that weren't quite up to par, though, were P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford.
Neither made a major impact in a game that Dallas had to have. Irving and fellow superstar guard Luka Doncic, who had a 29-point triple-double, needed just one more player to step up and have a notable outing to supplement their stardom. Unfortunately, it was too much to ask of this Mavericks supporting cast.
Washington, who scored 10 points on just 1-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc across 41 minutes, had a particularly embarrassing moment in the second quarter. After Clippers guard Paul George hit a three-pointer over him, the nine-time All-Star hit the same arm-crossing pose that Washington used in Game 3, via Overtime.
Washington is the main player that Dallas has looked to as the third option on offense, but he hasn't been able to answer the call consistently. No team can win a championship with just two stars doing most of the work, and the Mavericks are learning that the hard way.
Gafford, on the other hand, didn't take advantage of his more limited playing time. The veteran center scored just 5 points on 1-of-4 shooting, with five rebounds and two assists across 18 minutes. Not a terrible performance by any means, but it wasn't anything to write home about, either.
With Dallas now dealing with a deadlocked series at 2-2, will the squad come up with a complete team performance as it tries to avoid falling behind in Game 5?
P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford may not be capable of giving the Mavericks the extra push they need
This outcome may be due to a structural issue within the Mavericks' roster more than anything else. Dallas sacrificed plenty of depth to assemble one of the best backcourt duos in NBA history, and the effects of that have shown in this series.
Washington, for example, averaged 12.9 points on 43.7% shooting with 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in the regular season. Those numbers are quite similar to his output on Sunday. In addition to his 10 points, the Kentucky alum posted a 44.4% shooting clip with four rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block. Therefore, Washington played to the level he normally does, which shouldn't surprise anyone.
Gafford has a similar story. The 25-year-old averaged 11 points on 72.5% shooting in the regular season, to go with 7.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.1 blocks across 24.5 minutes per game. While he played slightly below that level on Sunday, his performance wasn't that much worse than what the Mavericks normally see from him.
As a result, the Dallas front office has to shoulder some of the blame as well. A team can't ask its players to do more than what they're capable of. If a player performs a certain way in the regular season, anything extra they do in the playoffs is a bonus.
For the Mavericks to be a serious championship contender moving forward, they'll have to acquire more quality depth pieces to complement their two stars. This may have to be done through the free agent or trade markets, as the team doesn't own a 2024 first-round pick.
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