Biggest Adjustments Dallas Mavericks Must Make in Game 2 Versus Houston Rockets
The Dallas Mavericks suffered an awkward loss to the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their first-round matchup. There were a lot of obvious flaws in Dallas' defense, and head coach Rick Carlisle has a lot of work to do to plug those holes.
The Mavs deserve some credit for bouncing back from an early deficit, but it was still a worrying performance. Houston got to the line at will, drained three after three and punished Dallas' sloppy pick-and-roll defense on its way to a 118-108 victory.
Offensively, the Mavericks had their positive moments. Rajon Rondo came out like a man possessed in the third quarter, blowing past Houston's defense and swishing jumpers all over the floor. Dirk Nowitzki shot 10-of-14 from the field and punished the Rockets whenever he had a mismatch.
Even so, the offense was as stagnant as it has been the last couple of months. Guys settled for mediocre shots, drove into crowded lanes and turned the ball over with inexplicably bad passes.
There are a lot of little things that added up to Dallas' loss, some of which can be fixed by adjusting the game plan and defensive schemes.
Defense—Pressuring Houston's Ball-Handlers
James Harden had a relatively modest scoring night, dropping 24 points in Game 1. But he also accumulated 11 assists, while Terrence Jones and Trevor Ariza each dished out six dimes as well.
Harden constantly broke down the Mavs off pick-and-rolls and in transition. No one pressured him until he got a head of steam and slashed into the teeth of the defense. That allowed him to draw help defenders and find open teammates under the basket.
Here is an example:
It's way too easy. Dirk and Al-Farouq Aminu attempt to double Harden but don't bother him nearly enough. He calmly finds Jones, who completes a bullet pass under the basket once Amar'e Stoudemire darts out to stop his roll.
Nowitzki was getting killed in pick-and-rolls all evening, and Houston rightfully targeted him. He couldn't keep anyone in front of him, be it a guard on a hedge or his own matchup. That led to a bunch of possessions that looked almost identical to the one above.
The Mavs eventually started rotating to help the helper, by picking up the designated rim protector's man whenever he had to step away to stop a drive. That threw the Rockets off on some possessions, but they still found ways around it. Here is an interesting example:
Harden posts up and curls around Dwight Howard's screen. Rondo momentarily gets stuck on the pick, which forces Tyson Chandler to step into Harden's driving lane. Aminu abandons his man to pick up Howard under the basket, while Monta Ellis in turn picks up Jones. All good, except for the fact that no one is within distance to close out on the wide-open Jason Terry spotting up in the corner.
A player like Harden, who is exemplary at getting to the rim, will often compromise defenses like that. He draws help, which automatically puts the offense in motion, and the Rockets can move the ball around the perimeter off the kick out.
From the Mavs' perspective, there is plenty of blame to go around.
On the above possession, Ellis leveraged all his weight toward the paint when Harden stopped and gathered the ball. That made it impossible for him to close out on Terry. Ellis has to bother the passing lane while remaining within close-out distance of his own man. But once he is in that position, Parsons is the one who should be rotating to the corner, leaving Ariza for Rondo.
It's easier said than done. The Rockets have a lot of good passers, and the ball moves quick. But even worse offenses than Houston's have stretched Dallas' defense in similar fashion throughout the year. One or two rotations are usually on point, but that's where the Mavericks generally lose track and collapse.
Everyone has to do a better job at reading the offense and staying in motion. It's hard to implement on short notice, especially considering that Dallas doesn't have the most intelligent defenders besides Chandler, Aminu and Devin Harris.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Carlisle is great at making adjustments, and there are things he can tweak within his schemes for Game 2. Tightening up on ball-handlers in pick-and-rolls is one thing, but the Mavs absolutely have to clean up their transition defense. Here is an example:
Chandler picks up Harden at mid-court and sticks to him together with Rondo. But there still isn't enough pressure, and Howard simply strolls into a wide-open lob. Chandler Parsons takes a half-hearted step into the paint, but it's already too late once Howard is cutting full speed toward the rim.
Houston created a ton of points on similar possessions in semi-transition. Harden pushed the ball off rebounds and even made baskets. Most of the time no one picked him up until he gathered steam, which automatically forced the whole defense to back-pedal in desperation.
Rondo can be a suffocating man-to-man defender, and having him stop the ball by picking Harden up higher could be an effective strategy. NBA pundit Haralabos Voulgaris suggested as much:
"Mavs not picking Harden up full court when he brings the ball up is such a mistake. 1. lets him rest. 2 lets him get a head of steam.
— Haralabos Voulgaris (@haralabob) April 19, 2015"
Chandler echoed the notion that putting more pressure on the ball-handlers would be a healthy adjustment:
"We have to come out and we have to be the aggressor," Chandler said, according to Bryan Gutierrez of MavsOutsider.com. "I think we need to be picking up full court and turning them and denying the wings, making it more difficult for them. I think they were way too comfortable bringing the ball up the floor and more comfortable getting into their offense."
Dallas employed quite a bit of zone in Game 1 to varying success. Mixing up defensive coverages is the way to go, but playing in a zone requires a lot of communication. The Mavericks aren't always on the same page and will have to weed out awful defensive possessions such as this:
Dallas sets up in a 2-3 zone, but the Rockets are instantly able to get the ball to Harden at the elbow. That's a big no-no, as Chandler is left one-on-two if Harden turns around and drives. Recognizing this, Nowitzki steps toward the paint, while Parsons picks up Harden. But Ellis and Rondo remain stationary, and it's almost laughable how little the Rockets have to work for an open three-pointer.
Carlisle has a lot of film to look at and plenty of adjustments to make, but it's the players' responsibility to put in the effort on both ends of the court.
Offense—Being More Assertive
Dallas still hasn't figured out how to effectively use Rondo, and it showed in Game 1. The impressive third quarter aside, Rondo continued to cramp the spacing for the Mavs. Houston double-teamed the post when he was spotting up beyond the three-point line and abandoned him to help on drives.
Rondo's inability to space the floor isn't going to change, and Dallas has to make up for that with smart off-ball movement. That was lacking against Houston. Here is an example:
The possession starts out promising—with a Parsons and Chandler pick-and-roll. However, instead of using Chandler's screen, Parsons decides to pass the ball to Rondo in the corner while cutting to the weak side himself. The ball eventually ends up in Chandler's hands at the elbow, who looks at his stationary teammates in confusion, before desperately putting the ball on the floor and attempting an awkward hook shot.
Chandler was completely out of his depth in that possession. With the abundance of offensive talent on the Mavericks' roster, Chandler shouldn't ever be forced to make one-on-one offensive moves. Yet every single Maverick was watching the ball, giving him no other choice.
Possessions like that have become common. For every nifty set Dallas manages to complete, there is a garbage play like the one above. When no player makes an effort to create space or get open, the offense deteriorates into isolation.
The Mavs did have some promising flashes of team offense. The Dirk-Monta hand-off game was on-point when they decided to bring it out. There were also several great pick-and-roll possessions, but only when the ball-handlers were assertive in using the screens and attacking relentlessly.
Parsons was great in transition but didn't look to penetrate on pick-and-rolls. He is likely still banged up, and that is worrying. The Mavs desperately need his versatile offensive skill set to keep up with Houston.
Attacking with a sense of urgency and assertiveness will be key for Dallas moving forward. It took too long for the Mavs to insert the ball to Nowitzki and Stoudemire on post-ups, giving them far too little time to create a decent look.
Grinding through post-ups isn't ideal, but it might be one of the Mavericks' best offensive options in this series. The Rockets love playing small lineups that switch on every pick-and-roll. Whenever Houston head coach Kevin McHale rolls out one of those groups, it's common for a guard to end up in the post against Nowitzki. If the Mavs have a good shooter spotting up on the strong side on those occasions, they should often be able to create a nice look.
The consistency issues on offense might be too severe to fix completely, but a couple of tweaks should allow Dallas to compete with the Rockets. If the Mavs can get their transition offense going, it might be easier to find success in the half court as well.
But to get out and run, Dallas needs to stop taking the ball out of its own basket. That's why the defensive issues are far more alarming and need to be addressed with higher priority if the Mavs want to have a chance in this series.
You can follow me on Twitter: @VytisLasaitis
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