The Dallas Mavericks are off to a great start in the Orlando bubble.
Luka Doncic and the rest of the Mavs are back in full force and, with the help of Seth Curry's impeccable shooting night, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-104 in their first scrimmage in the NBA Bubble.
But, according to head coach Rick Carlisle, offense isn't really the problem. Dallas has to quickly figure out how to improve their defense if they really want to excel in what's left of the 2019-2020 NBA Season.
“The statistics and the rank in the league kind of tell the story of defense,” he said. “We want to be a better team protecting the rim. We still want to be effective at protecting the 3-point line. It’s hard to do both.” said the champion head coach (per mavs.com)
In Thursday's win against the Lakers, the Mavs were impressive offensively – dropping 108 points in just 40 scrimmage minutes. But defensively, they struggled. Dallas gave up a combined 55 points to LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Lakers starters who sat out the entire second half. Defense really is what Carlisle is looking to zero in on as they approach the seeding games.
Carlisle adds, “The last few years, we have not done a great job of defending the 3-point line. But right now, the rim has got to be a priority. We’re a good defensive team. I don’t think we’re bad. We’re ranked about average – and we got to be above average and work to get into top 10 to be one of those teams that’s really in the hunt.”
Though they came up with a much-needed win to boost their confidence, it's clear that the Mavericks still have a ton on their plate before the season restarts next week.
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