A 10-for-49 night from 3-point range can make a reasonable basketball philosophy look rather silly. The Dallas Mavericks should resist that conclusion after Wednesday’s 101-97 preseason loss to the New Orleans Pelicans at American Airlines Center.
The more useful question concerns the quality of those attempts before anyone judges the volume. Sergio de Larrea’s assessment was that most of Dallas’ 49 threes resembled the shots the team wants, especially the opportunities created early in possessions. That judgment deserves weight. An open three taken before a defense is organized remains a valuable attempt, even when the ball declines to cooperate.
Dallas wants to play quickly and create advantages before the floor fills with defenders. Passing up a clean early look can leave the offense working against a settled defense several seconds later, with fewer driving lanes and less room for the next pass. The idea is sound. The execution Wednesday occasionally looked like the idea had been left alone in the building.
New Orleans supplied the complication. Dallas committed 27 turnovers, and the Pelicans turned those giveaways into 27 points. They also scored 23 points in transition to Dallas’ eight. Coach Dusty May attributed part of the trouble to illegal screens, limited offensive variety and drives launched into poor spacing. He credited New Orleans’ physical pressure with speeding the Mavericks up as well.
May’s spacing criticism provides a necessary check on de Larrea’s favorable view of the attempts. The coach and guard were describing different parts of the same offense: the intent to find early open shots, and possessions that went wrong under pressure. Both assessments can be useful. Dallas needs to keep creating the looks it wants while giving the ballhandler enough room to reach them.
Zaccharie Risacher offered the clearest individual counterpoint. He scored six points, went 3-for-11 from the field and missed all seven of his attempts from outside. Seven misses require no creative accounting.
May also credited Herbert Jones and New Orleans’ physical defense for making Risacher’s night difficult, a significant detail rather than a convenient excuse. A shooter can miss an uncontested attempt through ordinary variance; a defender can also keep a preferred look from ever becoming comfortable. The final line cannot answer that question by itself.
Dallas found better evidence for its approach during a fourth-quarter push. After Dallas trailed 75-63 through three periods, John Poulakidas made a 23-foot three, trimming the deficit to 77-66. De Larrea then hit from 26 feet with 7:40 remaining, making it 85-76. Tarik Biberovic’s 25-footer at the 2:17 mark reduced New Orleans’ lead to 95-89.
