The Dallas Mavericks could be relying more heavily on their “small-ball” lineup moving forward after finding success in the second half of Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Mavericks trailed by 11 at halftime and as many as 22 in the second quarter, and head coach Jason Kidd decided to change things up with a smaller lineup that featured Luka Doncic, Dallas’ tallest player on the floor, for the second half, helping the Mavericks mount a comeback and take a late lead.
“I like what the group did shorthanded,” Kidd told the media postgame. “Everyone played and put us in a position to fight. A lot of character in that locker room — understanding things weren’t going well for us in the first half. I thought we turned it around in the second half — understanding no one feels bad for us that we’re shorthanded. Those guys fought and put ourselves in a position to win, and we just came up short.”
One of the advantages of using a “small-ball” lineup is the added quickness, athleticism, and ability to stretch the floor, which the Mavericks can do with guys like Derrick Jones Jr. and Grant Williams, who combined to shoot 10-18 from the floor with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
“Derrick is able to, if he’s rolling, [use] his ability to finish [and] his ability to play-make,” Kidd explained. “Grant, the same thing — being able to play-make. Also, just the pop for those guys. They can shoot it.”
While Kidd wasn’t sure how his players would respond to his decision, there was a noticeable momentum shift that allowed them to play more quickly and freely while dictating the pace of the game.
“We wanted to run the ball up the floor. Get up the floor a lot faster,” Jones Jr. said after the game. “That was our goal for the day — just trying to get out in transition and get easy buckets a lot faster, get the game moving a lot faster. I feel like it helped us a lot, so it worked.”
“With the smaller lineup, it just gives us more opportunities with the guys that are out there to be able to create,” guard Jaden Hardy added. “… Just take  pressure off of Luka with the guards just being able to get in the paint and make the extra passes and the right reads to get the other guys involved and get us open shots when Luka’s getting doubled.”
The change did not result in a win this time, but Kidd was encouraged by its positive effects and is considering using the strategy more often in the future.
“We made them match up to us,” he said. “That’s a small victory, for that group to be able to change the game where they took out their bigs to match to us. So our next step is to play a bit more with small ball and see if we can be effective.”
