For much of the season, the Dallas Mavericks coaching staff hasn't had the most glowing appraisal of their marquee offseason acquisition Christian Wood's defense. To begin the year, the Mavs have utilized Wood off the bench instead of as a starter alongside Luka Doncic, much to the fans' chagrin. But amid the Mavs' injury woes, they have called upon Wood, and he has mostly delivered, especially with Dallas in the middle of a seven-game winning streak.
However, even Christian Wood knows that he still has a ton of room to improve as the season progresses. Despite the Mavs' 111-106 win vs. the Houston Rockets, Wood was harsh in his evaluation of his own defensive performance, particularly during the first half of their victory on Monday night.
“I was trash defensively the first half, and I had to pick it up. … Second half, I was playing better defense without fouling and altering shots at the rim. That’s what my team needs and my team trusts me to step up,” Wood said after the game, per Callie Caplan of Dallas Morning News.
And step up Christian Wood has, slowly blossoming into the co-star Luka Doncic sorely needs. Against the Rockets, Wood tallied a season-high five blocks to go along with his usual, efficient scoring night. He was instrumental as the Mavs needed to shut up shop towards the end to come back from a fourth-quarter deficit against the worst team in the Western Conference.
The Mavs may have had an easy schedule as of late, with five of those seven wins coming against three of the four worst teams in the conference. Wood and Doncic will have to continue to shoulder the load if the Mavs were to sustain their run atop the standings. But with Wood taking on the defensive challenge coach Jason Kidd has asked of him all season long, the Mavs may be there to stay even with the schedule set to become tougher.
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