As speculated, the Mavericks made a change to their starting lineup for Friday’s game vs. Toronto, replacing center JaVale McGee with Dwight Powell. Head coach Jason Kidd told reporters before the game that it wouldn’t necessarily be a permanent move.
“This is something for us to look at,” Kidd said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). “(Powell) has been playing extremely well. … We’ll take it one game at a time for now.”
McGee signed with the Mavericks as a free agent this past offseason after being promised the starting center job, but the team has performed better with Powell manning that spot in the early going this season. That didn’t change on Friday.
Against the Raptors, both Powell (plus-8) and McGee (plus-6) had positive on-court ratings in the same game for just the second time this season. The first time it happened, on October 22, Dallas blew out Memphis by 41 points. On Friday, the Mavs won by just a single point.
Here’s more out of Dallas:
- Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie alleged that veteran referee Tony Brothers referred to him as a “b–ch ass motherf—er” during Friday’s game. As MacMahon writes in a full ESPN.com story, Dinwiddie, who protested when Brothers called him for a technical foul, said that a teammate informed him of Brothers’ comment. “I’m not even mad at the language,” Dinwiddie said. “Everybody has said things before when they are upset or feeling sensitive or hurt. That’s fine. Just say it to my face. … I would like to not be called a b–ch ass motherf—er to my teammates.”
- Speaking to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News, veteran point guard Facundo Campazzo said he was close to resuming his career in Europe when he received an offer from the Mavericks. “When the Mavs’ offer came, I mean, I didn’t hesitate. I just said yes at the first question they did, and that’s it,” Campazzo said. “I was in Argentina with my family and said, ‘OK, we are moving to Dallas.’ That was a Thursday, and they asked me if I can fly Friday, the next day. I said, ‘I need a little bit more time. I have to move a lot of things,’ so we flew in that Saturday and stayed in the hotel and started this journey.”
- Luka Doncic made NBA history on Friday by becoming the second player to ever start a season by scoring at least 30 points in each of his first eight games. Wilt Chamberlain was the only other player in league history to accomplish the feat, according to Caplan.
It was just a matter of time before Javale McGee was replaced in the starting lineup. He’s not really player you can count on unless you have him in the perfect scenario to succeed like with the Suns or with the Warriors.
Spot duty, good defense for moments, great hustle, offensive rebounding, lob threat. He’s a 15 to 18 minute guy off the bench to provide a spark with this athleticism.
But starting center running schemes and plays and involved in the intricate parts of the game plan? Not Javale.
@ Gary
“But starting center running schemes and plays and involved in the intricate parts of the game plan?”
Anyone who has watched the Mavs this season knows the game plan is Doncic record usage pct occasionally passing to the corners or lobbing to the center. Javale has outrebounded Powell playing 2/3rd of the minutes/gm, but Kidd can’t ignore Powell’s hot start from three, shooting 70% so far.
Hustle was the problem.
Yes both great points. The attention span is just not there.
Great game. The Mavs’ making 1 more three was the difference.
Oh, and Tony Brothers needs to be retired.
Really a 4 point game. The last 3 was made at the buzzer uncontested.
Luka has a 37 PER while shooting 26% from 3 – insane.