The Dallas Mavericks missed a golden opportunity in game 4, but the path there shows promise

Silver linings. Despite not being able to close the game to their advantage, the Dallas Mavericks showed great improvement from their first loss against the Clippers in game 1. They managed to make a historic comeback from being down 31 to essentially tying the game in the second half.

But despite the comeback, they were not able to throw the knockout punch and close the game, and lost by five, 116-111.

Is that a sign that they are not good enough to be contenders and make a deep playoff run this year?

Not quite. That historic comeback took an extraordinary mentality and connection, a lot of hard work, and a little bit of Kyrie Irving being superhuman. But superhuman performances are what the playoffs are made of, and the fact that this team was able to make that run is a really good sign of things to come and their potential.

We can all agree that closing games is the most important thing. But the vast improvement from game 1 and the fact that they managed to make the game competitive as fast as they did – pretty much just one quarter – shows what this team is capable of.

When we look at the speed with which they got back in the game – because they decided to – we find a lot of positive insights into the mentality of these Mavericks.

First of all, the change of pace, starting with Kyrie Irving, spread to the rest of the team like wildfire, and before you knew it, the intensity and hustle were back on defense, causing stops which converted into quick points on the other end. They looked like the team, who closed the regular season on a high again. Winning mentality.

And they didn’t stop there, they made it all the way back to tying the game after being down 31 points. An incredible achievement, which shouldn’t be overlooked because they didn’t end up with the win.

Secondly, when Luka Dončić was struggling due to injury during this game and shots just weren’t falling as the team is used to – both from him and others, Kyrie Irving effectively took over and ignited the team.

What didn’t work in the first quarter suddenly did, because the mental attitude changed completely. It was tangible even through the screen. That comeback is a really good example of the power of a team’s mentality.

The fans got into it, making everything a little easier for Dallas. The fact that Kyrie is such an experienced and smart player, that he knows how to get everyone going by leading the way, is an extremely positive sign for this team. They trust him and follow him.

If he could just take charge a little earlier next time, and not let the game come to him quite as much, but attack the it from the beginning, this game suddenly looks very different. He even said so afterward.

The Kyrie factor just adds so many more options and ways to win for Dallas, even when Luka is not at his best. He is a winning player.

The energy and connection on defense especially, which seemed lost for most of the first half, was turned on by Kyrie from one second to the other. It’s like someone turned on a switch. The ability to turn a bad game into a good one is another sign of a winning team and it shows what they’re capable of with the right mindset.

Thirdly, Luka Dončić is not himself. This has been talked about a lot, but I really think most of it is based on that knee injury from game 1 that he’s been struggling with since and which seemed to be aggravated in game 3. He’s not taking the ball to the rim and is not taking the midrange shots the way he usually does, and he’s been missing floaters and an unusually high number of threes.

This is not the playoff Luka that we know, and this tells us that something else is happening than just a bad game. Luka Dončić doesn’t have bad games, he has bad halves, maybe a full game once in a while, but never this many. He is the born playoff performer and always rises to the occasion through his career. We have enough evidence over his already long career in Madrid and Dallas to say that.

He even said that he feels like he’s letting Kyrie down after game 4, and says he’s very much in pain, but that it’s not an excuse.

But you know what – it’s definitely a reason. And it leaves a huge amount of room for improvement on offense for this team, if Luka just plays a little more aggressively and starts shooting better. All of this is of course dependent on whether there’s enough time to heal for him, and how serious it is. But everyone knows what playoff Luka Dončić is capable of. If he’s just slightly improved, things will start to look very differently. He’s been a winning player since he was a teenager.

Fourth, there’s the poor overall shooting for this team. Imagine if the percentages go up just a little, steady themselves and reach the Mavericks average of 36.9 percent from three. They’ve been shooting 32.8 percent these playoffs. And imagine if someone other than Kyrie gets hot from three. On top of that, Clips have been shooting a much higher percentage of 43.3 these playoffs. That’s bound to level out eventually.

But it will be a tough road ahead. Kyrie Irving gave a little insight into the mentality behind the scenes, noting that Luka Dončić loves a challenge, but that mental fatigue plays a role here, as well:

“Knowing how well he knows the Clippers, I know he wants to play well and I know he wants to make a bigger impact than what he’s doing now even though he’s almost averaging a triple-double…He’s a young kid in the playoffs going against a team that beat him twice. There’s a little bit of a mental fatigue there…”

Maybe we sometimes miss some of the nuances of this chess game that is the playoffs. The toll it takes on the players.

Winning teams close games, and throw the knockout punch in clutch time. But first they have to learn from mistakes and get there. Adjust and counter in the right ways. And that’s exactly what we saw from Dallas in game 4 with that comeback. If they can keep the learning curve steep, they have a good chance of a deep playoff run. And maybe also a little Luka magic.

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