The comparison between Luka Doncic and James Harden It didn’t take long for him to emerge, as the Slovenian became one of the most defining players in the NBA already in his second season in the league. Two big, strong point guards, who constantly hold the ball and they stand out as both scorers and assists. Even details like the ability to drop in back off or defensive problems unite The beard with former Real Madrid.
The problem for the Mavericks isn’t because of Doncic being compared to one of the best offensive players the NBA has ever seen, but rather because of the little that Dallas seems to have learned from the failure of the Houston project. Especially in Harden’s final years with the team.
From Kyrie Irving is joining the Mavericks an almost perfect parallel can be drawn to that made by Houston in the 2019-2020 seasonwhen in motion more desperate than sanepaired Harden with another offensive core Russell Westbrook. Those Rockets had their ups and downs and were eventually swept in the Conference Semifinals by the eventual champion Lakers in a series that went completely in favor of Los Angeles (4-1). A few months later, both Westbrook and Harden left Texas.
The mistake that Dallas is repeating from that Houston is not just happening collect two stars that need the ball in their possessionbut badly surrounded that both couples stayed. In the case of the Rockets, especially on the offensive end and, in the case of Dallas, even worse: without great defenders, but also without scorers to complement Doncic and Irving.
The other regular starters for Dallas are Reggie Bullock and Tim Hardawaytwo alleged shooters firing field below 40%. in season and a Dwight Powell compliant, but who would be an understudy on any team with championship aspirations. Again, not great scorers, much less players capable of providing answers in attack.
That’s how limited he is list of names of Dallas, which at games missing Doncic and/or Irvinglike this Monday against Memphis (both were out), their chances of winning are practically nil. To give an idea of what’s going on, suffice it to say that against the Grizzlies, the three players with the most pitches for the Mavs were the rookie. Jaden Hardy (28 points on 25 shots), a Josh Green 22 years old (23 units with 15 shots) and a McKinley Wright with just 26 previous games of NBA experience (9-12).
Robbery.
Skip.
And Aldama’s dunk 🤩#NBAxESPN pic.twitter.com/KWpsGWPRnN
— NBA Latam (@NBALAtam) March 14, 2023
Memphis, meanwhile, is the equivalent of the Mavericks and without the varnish Ja Morant or Steven Adams It has enough equipment to maintain a high level. 23 units of it Desmond Bain19 of David Roddy and Dillon Brooksapart from another good performance from the Spaniards santi jump (10 points and 9 rebounds). They didn’t even need a big night from an All-Star like Jaren Jackson Jr. (7 points and 6 rebounds) to beat this Dallas 104-88. The difference between a claimant and a suitor.
Basically, the bet on that Houston and that Dallas is they win with special weight their two best men. On the Rockets, Russ and Harden were average 44.8 pitches per game. In Dallas, Luca and Kyrie are average 41.3. The third most important player on these Rockets was Eric Gordon, shooting 12.9 per game, but shooting just 36.9% from the field. In Dallas, the story is very similar: the third part is Tim Hardaway Jr.with 12.1 shooting and a leisurely 39.5% from the field.
In other words, everything goes through two players and when you look for other answers, variations of it low efficiency and capacity.
It’s no surprise that the best season of these Harden Rockets came with a formula other than that of pairing two scorers. She was 2017-2018when the pair of The beard it was a Chris Paul as much or more level than Westbrook or Irving, but another completely different role: much less shooting (13.8 shots per game) and infinitely superior in organization and passing. In fact, Harden and Paul teamed up for just that 33.9 pitches per game in that campaign, a far cry from the +40 of Harden-Westbrook or Doncic-Irving.
The Mavs still have a ways to go in the season, but Early signs are not positive when it comes to imagining the future of their star duo. History shows that stars like Doncic are best surrounded by good defenders and other figures who aren’t just for one-on-one scoring. Just like they had last year in smart and adaptive Jaylen Brunsonwith which they arrived Western Conference Finals in 2022. A goal that looks increasingly distant for Jason Kidd’s Dallas.
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