Mavs must be defensive in playoffs

By David Mullen

Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing, a website that has grown exponentially since the debut of MLB on Apple TV+, posted, “ESPN loves talking about the Los Angeles Lakers, and they certainly love talking about LeBron James.” Contes reported that ESPN’s NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins has had enough. On ESPN — aka the 24-hour LeBron James network — Perkins said, “I don’t wanna talk about LeBron, I don’t wanna talk about Russ [Westbrook], I don’t wanna talk about Anthony Davis, I think we’re all, the world is [all] tired of talking about them.”

I am sure that some compliant talking head at ESPN asked James for comment.

Luckily, as the 2022 NBA playoffs arrive, the Lakers will not be on the court at Crypto.com arena, but on the beaches of Cancun. A 33-49 record and 11th place finish can’t even get the Lakers into the NBA playoffs, where 20 of 30 teams find some level of postseason play. 

What will the producers and programmers at ESPN, an NBA broadcast partner, do? Could a “30 for 30” episode on the perils of sunlight on the tattooed frames of aging basketball players be in the works?

In the meantime, now is the moment for the Dallas Mavericks to shine. After a wildly entertaining 52-30 regular season and a fourth-place finish in the difficult NBA Western Conference, the Mavs have the home court advantage in the first-round playoffs against the fifth-seeded Utah Jazz, the most incongruous nickname in all of sports. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City from New Orleans, where the team’s moniker is name appropriate.        

The Mavs, opening Saturday, April 16 at noon, are still underdogs to the Jazz despite the better seed. No one seems ready to take Dallas seriously, as this roster is considered unproven to be considered a viable playoff team. And Utah is thought to be a better team than a fifth seed.

The key to Dallas going deep into the playoffs will be playing excellent defense. Coach Jason Kidd preaches defense, and the Mavs have showed that they can exhibit those skills without a dominant rebounder. 

The Jazz have the NBA’s highest offensive rating at 116.2 (points produced by a player per 100 possessions), and Donovan Mitchell (25.9 ppg this season) is the best player in the NBA not mentioned in everyone’s Top 5. The Salt Lake City media market is among the league’s smallest. Mitchell deserves better press.  

The Mavericks offense runs on Luka Doncic, who is nursing a calf injury. If he can play close to his skills, he is the type of player that can carry the team offensively. Remember, he has won European League championships, so playoff intensity is not foreign to him.

Doncic also makes other players like Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie better. But without another scoring threat like Tim Hardaway, Jr., a role or bench player needs to come up big. Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell face a tough challenge from Utah’s inside game. 

Despite a trend of blowing big fourth quarter leads this season, the Jazz may have more poise due to greater playoff experience. The Mavs are still new to the NBA playoffs game. If they can find someone to stop Mitchell, the Mavs can advance. But it will take a remarkable defensive effort, with a little help from the team’s medical staff, to get Doncic playoff-ready. The rest of the Mavs must prove they are playoff-ready as well.

The other Western Conference playoff teams seem ready to fall into place. The Phoenix Suns had the league’s best record, played in last year’s NBA finals and are looking for revenge. They will be difficult to beat. Devin Booker (26.8 ppg) is an MVP candidate, and floor general Chris Paul is 36 years old going on 22. 

The second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies have a human highlight reel in Ja Morant. They also have the youngest team in the league. They are the NBA’s most exciting club but will need to harness that excitement in the playoffs. Memphis is the most vulnerable high seed in the West. 

The Golden State Warriors had a season of ups and downs. They once held the league’s best record, and then injuries and spotty play moved them back to a third seed. But Steve Kerr is a brilliant coach, and Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are reunited for the playoffs. They played 11 minutes together during the entire regular season. And the Denver Nuggets can’t be totally discounted as a sixth seed, as long as Nikola Jokić is playing to his MVP level.

All year it has seemed that the team that survived a Suns versus Warriors playoff series would become NBA Champions, no matter what team emerged from the Eastern Conference.

In the East, the Top 10 playoff teams were separated by just 10 games. The Miami Heat is the No. 1 team, but are they better than the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, the defending NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks or even the play-in Brooklyn Nets?  

When one thinks about Eastern Conference basketball, the names Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Trey Brown come to mind. The Heat are the only thing to come out of Miami that isn’t flashy.

Jimmy Butler is the Heat’s leading scorer at 21.4 ppg, which wasn’t near the Top 10 in the NBA. Tyler Herro is a tremendous sixth man. But Miami could be a team that is No. 1 and done. Philly could win the East if they can get their minds right, which is a lot to ask. Either Milwaukee or Boston are likely conference champions, with the Nets in everyone’s rear view mirror.

This is a fascinating NBA playoff season. The Eastern Conference could be won by a play-in team, and the Western Conference playoffs will be without the NBA darling Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron “King” James.

 Perkins finished his earlier rant with: “For one moment, one moment please! Just the rest of this playoffs, can we enjoy the others? Let’s enjoy the others that are deserving … and not talk about the Lakers. I’m done with it. I’ve been coming on here time and time again telling you how I’m tired of the Lakers and today I’m officially done … I’m done. Yeah, I’m done.”

It’s time to enjoy the other teams that are deserving. The Lakers are done. The Mavericks hope they are just getting started.