Pleasant Surprises from Dallas Mavericks' Early-Season Games

With seven games down in the Dallas Mavericks’ 2014-15 season, it’s too early to be making any big conclusions. After a 105-96 home loss to the Miami Heat on November 9, the Mavs are 4-3 on the season. It’s hardly a scorching start but also nothing to panic over.

That being said, the team is starting to answer some of the offseason questions.

Bit by bit, the new acquisitions are becoming better acclimated to their new situation. Jameer Nelson has become the starting point guard, and Devin Harris is now a spark-plug sixth man. And yes, the defense is still a work in progress.

But of course, unexpected things always pop up in the early going—nuances that nobody expected of the Mavs yet have pleasantly surprised everyone.

The surprises could be relatively small or rather significant. Whatever the case may be, they put a smile on faces of Mavs fans everywhere.

Alley-Oops

Coming into the year, it was expected that the Mavs would continue down the path they started forging last season. Using a hyper-efficient offense based on ball movement and shooting, Dallas would become a contender in the West.

The hyper-efficient offense is still there, but there’s a new wrinkle this year. And it isn’t two-point guard lineups.

It’s alley-oops.

Last season the Mavs killed teams by outsmarting and outshooting almost everyone. They passed up open shots for great ones—kind of like a San Antonio Spurs-lite.

Now, players can drive the lane and lob a pass toward the rim for someone to flush. When Chandler Parsons beats his man up top and the big rotates to help, he can now find Tyson Chandler lurking near the bucket for an alley-oop.

Frankly, it’s somewhat surprising to see. The Mavs haven’t had too many elite athletes as of late, so seeing someone throw down an alley-oop in traffic off a drive from the perimeter is still foreign.

But it makes sense.

The alley-oop is practically Chandler’s signature offensive move. Brandan Wright has the length, athleticism and vertical to be a massive target, and Al-Farouq Aminu is also plenty athletic enough to catch some himself.

It adds another threat to a driving Maverick. Instead of having to choose between a finish at the rim or a kick to the perimeter, now ball-handlers also have the threat of throwing one over the top.

And it looks good on TV when the Mavs do it.

Dirk Actually Looking Better Than Last Season

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It might sound blasphemous, but Dirk Nowitzki really does look better this year.

In the words of Kevin Garnett, anything is possible!

Nowitzki is averaging 20.6 points in 28.6 minutes per game while shooting an eye-popping 52.3 percent from the floor and 46.9 percent from three. He's doing all this while acclimating to new teammates and remaining the focus of the offense.

Compare that to last season when Dirk scored 21.7 points in 32.9 minutes per game last season and shot 49.7 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from deep.

He’s averaging more points per minute, thanks largely to his ridiculous shooting in the first seven games. And because of that, his player efficiency rating is up three points to 26.5, per Basketball-Reference.com.

But beyond just numbers, he looks better.

Even though he’s still the focus, there’s less pressure on Dirk this year. He doesn’t have to be the guy night in and night out. With the new guys in the fold and Monta Ellis’ emergence, Dirk can play a little more relaxed, knowing it doesn’t need to start and end with him.

He can be more liberal with his kick-outs, has more room to operate and can pick his spots. And all this leads to Nowitzki simply being a better basketball player.

And considering the elite level he played at last year as a 35-year-old, it’s hard to get better. But somehow, someway, the guy has done just that.

Devin Harris, the Sixth Man

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During the offseason, people wondered who would be the starting point guard for the Mavs. After Raymond Felton went down with an ankle injury during camp, it was between the returning Devin Harris and the newcomer in Jameer Nelson.

Eventually, Nelson won the starting spot, and Harris was relegated to being the sixth man again—a role that was very up and down for him last season.

But not this year.

Not only has his shooting increased by more than five percent, but Harris leads the Mavs in assist-to-turnover ratio, averaging a nutty 6.4 assists per turnover.

In 2013-14, Harris was plagued by injuries. He only played in 40 regular-season games, but when he was healthy, he had moments. His quickness and ability to create his own shot were very valuable coming off the bench.

But he only shot 37.8 percent from the field.

This season, his shooting is up to 42.9 percent. He’s also hitting almost seven percent better from deep, bringing his three-point shooting up to a very respectable 37 percent.

Combine his improved shooting and playmaking with his attacking mentality, and the Mavs have quite the sixth man.

Harris can play two roles at once. He can switch between scorer and distributor depending on what’s needed. Granted, it’s not always a perfect balance, but Harris has shown more point guard skills this season than in years past.

He might not be Jason Terry, but he’s close. So far.

Tyson Chandler Is Back

To some people, this might not be a surprise. Maybe they always thought that Chandler would be just like he was in 2011. Maybe they were never worried.

As a Knick in 2013-14, Chandler simply didn’t look like himself. He missed 27 games due to injury, and when he did play, he wasn’t the same. The freak 7’1” athlete who could move like a small forward wasn’t playing like we were all used to seeing.

Sure, his stats were fine, and he made plays from time to time. But his presence on the floor was lacking. There weren’t as many alley-oops, energetic hedges or emphatic blocks.

A lot can change in a year. Just ask Avery Bradley.

As a member of the Mavericks, Chandler looks like his old self. He’s moving better, playing with more energy and looking like the athlete we all know and love.

Chandler was reacquired to be the backbone of the Mavs defense, something the team was missing ever since he left. Whether it was literally being the last line of defense or captaining the other guys on the floor, Chandler hasn’t missed a beat in filling his own shoes.

And thank goodness for that. The Mavs didn’t trade for the Chandler from last season; they traded for the guy they remembered from his days in Dallas.

Well, that guy is back. And not a moment too soon.

Al-Farouq Aminu

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As a cheap offseason signing, Al-Farouq Aminu wasn’t expected to yield too much. He was intriguing as a small-ball 4 due to his rebounding and athleticism, but his shooting struggles put a cap on his expectations.

Realistically, he wasn’t going to be much more than a matchup play. He was just going to be a guy to throw out there for a bit to mess with an opponent's lineup.

But Aminu has been so much more than that.

He’s seen significant run at the 3 and 4, playing 15 minutes per game thus far including 18 and 19 in his last two games against the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, respectively.

And this is at least partially thanks to his improved stroke. Through seven games, Aminu is hitting a third of his shots from downtown and shooting 53.8 percent from the floor.

This allows him to stay on the court and take advantage of his versatile skill set. He’s already nabbed a double-double, and his athleticism creates problems for opposing bigs.

Maybe more importantly though, his play allows Dirk to take some much-needed breaks. If Aminu hadn’t panned out, Nowitzki’s only real backup would have been Charlie Villanueva.

So even though Aminu is something of a project, the fact that he can soak up some minutes in the frontcourt saves the rest of the roster, which is valuable in itself.

And the fact that he’s playing now shows that the coaches have confidence in his ability to grow, which is another encouraging sign.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, just be thankful he’s out there and effective. There might be more to come, but that’s just icing on the cake.