The Dallas Mavericks have not had the best start to the season, and they could point to a few reasons why. One of the reasons is that they're missing some of their key players. They knew Kyrie Irving would miss about half of the season as he recovers from his ACL injury last season, but Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II are already sidelined.
The main thing that is working against them is their offense, which is actually the worst in the league, according to a user on social media.
“Two weeks into the season and Nico Harrison's ‘championship-caliber' Dallas Mavericks are dead last in the West – dead last in the NBA in both Offensive Rating and PPG,” a user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Funny enough, the reason general manager Nico Harrison traded Luka Doncic last season was to improve the defense. Though that side of the ball may have improved, it looks like the offense took a big dip, especially when you don't have your star players on the court due to injuries. The saying “defense wins championships” is true, but you also need a solid offense to complement it. It seems as if the Mavericks have both of those things working against them.
The Mavericks have lost their last three games, including the most recent one to the New Orleans Pelicans, who have struggled to start the season. Cooper Flagg spoke after the loss about his performance and the team's struggles so far.
“For me, it's the most (I've lost), you know, I think ever. So it's obviously a lot different, and you have to adapt to just playing a lot more games,” Flagg said via Abby Jones. “But I wouldn't say anybody's happy. Guys are obviously trying to stay levelheaded and know that we have a lot more games to go and it's still really early. But I mean, speaking personally, I know it's not fun to just keep losing games.”
It's still early in the season, and things can change, but they'll have to improve sooner rather than later before they get too deep into the year.
