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PJ Washington & Daniel Gafford, Dallas Mavericks. Mason Plumlee, Los Angeles Clippers.
The Dallas Mavericks have officially eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers and are now advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they will face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
As a five seed playing against a four seed, their triumph in this series isn’t all that bizarre. What is weird, though, is how they have achieved their success. The Mavericks, a team headlined by their star duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, aren’t winning with only their offense (7th in offensive rating in these playoffs). They are doing it with their defense (6th in defensive rating), too.
Even more impressive than their overall defensive rating, the Mavericks are first in the entire playoffs in opponent rim accuracy (50.0%) by a landslide (the Thunder are second with an opponent rim accuracy of 53.2%, per Cleaning the Glass).
Top 10 Playoff Defenses in Opponent Rim Accuracy.
Winning with defense isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel. Throughout NBA history, teams have used their elite defenses to fuel deep playoff runs. The thing that makes what Dallas is doing unique (and worth writing an article about) is their roster construction.
One of the elements that makes the NBA so intriguing is that the teams participating in it are restricted by a salary cap. That means that teams are limited in how much money they can spend (before getting penalized).
This year, the Mavericks have 56.7% of their salary cap tied to Doncic and Irving (per Spotrac) — two players who are known in many circles as defensive liabilities. So, how has Dallas managed to build a strong playoff defense when over half their cap space is tied to poor defensive players?
The Mavericks knew they were set on offense with Doncic (100th percentile in Offensive Estimated Plus-Minus, per Dunks & Threes) and Irving (98th percentile) on their payroll. So, they prioritized adding defensively-slanted players for cheap in the 2023 offseason.
During this period, they made three key acquisitions. The first one came in the 2023 NBA Draft, where the Mavericks traded back (with the Thunder, coincidentally) in order to acquire Dereck Lively II. Since Lively is a rookie, he’s only making about 4.8 million dollars this year (3.5% of the cap). To his credit, though, Lively has been worth every penny. Despite his inexperience, Lively has been one of the better rim protectors in basketball (94th percentile in block rate).
The second deal they made was a three-team sign-and-trade with the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs to nab Grant Williams (more on this in a second).
The last piece of the offseason puzzle was a seemingly inconsequential mid-August signing (one that we predicted wouldn’t be so inconsequential). The player in question was Derrick Jones Jr., who they got at the veteran minimum. Since Jones had seven years of work experience coming into 2023-24, the Mavericks were able to sign him for a little over two million dollars (1.48% of the salary cap). Jones has turned out to be Dallas’ best perimeter defender (92nd percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus), and he’s had a massive positive impact on the team’s overall defense (80th percentile in defensive rating on/off).
After a diligent offseason, Dallas established itself as one of the most aggressive teams of the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline, using their draft capital to acquire more size and defense.
We mentioned the Williams trade earlier. Unfortunately, his time in Dallas wasn’t the most pleasant. However, the Mavericks were able to flip him, Seth Curry, and a 2027 first round pick for PJ Washington. Washington is a rangy defender (80th percentile in DEF EPM) with a 7’2.5 wingspan. Plus, he’s only making 16.8 million dollars this year (12.4% of the salary cap), which is both a good price for a starting caliber forward and a relatively easy number to match in a trade.
The other medium-sized swing they took at the deadline was their trade to land Daniel Gafford from the Washington Wizards (in exchange for Richaun Holmes and a 2024 first round pick). Gafford also gives them more length (6’10 with a 7’2.25 wingspan) and a rim protector to man the paint when Lively isn’t on the floor (97th percentile in block rate).
The beautiful thing about defense is that a lot of it comes down to effort (from the players) and scheme (from the coaches), and neither of those variables costs any money (well, coaches cost money, but it doesn’t count against the salary cap).
Everyone on the Mavericks is completely bought into the defensive side of the ball, even the notorious turnstiles Doncic and Irving.
A great way to measure defensive effort is to look at how many deflections a player is accruing during their time on the court. Of the 102 players who have logged at least 100 minutes in these playoffs, Doncic and Irving are both in the top 20 (per NBA.com).
Irving, in particular, has really risen to the occasion. In Games 5 and 6, he spent large portions of the game defending James Harden so that Washington could stay off-ball and provide secondary rim protection (Washington was in the 71st percentile in block rate this year, by the way).
Head Coach Jason Kidd has also done a good job coming up with creative ways to maximize his players’ strengths (like keeping Washington off-ball). For instance, he’s had Doncic do more defending in isolation because that is one of the better facets of his defensive arsenal. Most coaches would do anything to hide their worst defenders. But not Kidd. Kidd understands that Dallas’ defense is better with Doncic and Irving in the heat of the action because it allows their better defenders (Washington, Jones, Gafford, etc.) to clean up their messes on the backline.
Do you know what else is free? Officiating that lets players be more physical on defense. It’s no secret that games have been called different since after the All-Star break, leading to a league-wide scoring decline.
This has helped a team like Dallas — who touts a lot of defensive-first wings/forwards/center — because they can put more defense on the floor without paying a huge tax on offense (it also helps that Doncic/Irving are such prolific offensive players).
Between Lively, Jones, Gafford, Washington, Josh Green (3.5% of the salary cap), and the now-healthy Maxi Kleber (8.1%), Dallas has a ton of affordable length and athleticism to help them safeguard the paint (the most important part of defense). They have also maximized the features of defense that don’t count against the salary cap (effort and coaching), along with getting some help from the NBA’s decision to prioritize defense.
When you put that all together, you have a recipe for building a great playoff defense on a budget.
Don Stone, a Dallas civic leader and strong supporter of the arts, died on Sunday. He was 96.
Angela Stone, Don’s youngest child, said her father was one of a kind, a rare mix of sweet and tough.
“He was just the most wonderful man I ever knew, just generous to a fault, smart, charming. He influenced so many people,” she said.
Stone gave widely across North Texas, including $500,000 to endow college scholarships for musically gifted Dallas ISD students. Stone also held leadership positions at several North Texas arts organizations, including the Dallas Public Library, Voices of Change, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Fine Arts Chamber Players, Orchestra of New Spain, the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Shakespeare Dallas and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
“He just believed that all of our lives would be so much poorer without music, art and theater. He said in our country we have the freedom to support whatever we want and that we needed to support the arts so that they would continue to exist,” Stone said.
Stone, a businessman who lived in Turtle Creek, worked for Sanger Harris, which later became Macy’s. He was a 2018 TACA Silver Cup Award honoree for his arts and culture advocacy in North Texas.
Maura Sheffler, president and executive director of The Arts Community Alliance (TACA), said in a statement that Stone’s legacy will continue to inspire the local arts community.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Don Stone, a devoted champion of the arts whose leadership and generosity,” she wrote.
Stone’s wife of over 72 years, Norma, died in June. She was the one who first got her husband involved in the arts, according to their daughter Angela.
Michelle Miller Burns, the DSO’s president and CEO, said the Stones had a profound impact on the DSO.
“It is with such a heavy heart that I received news of Don Stone’s passing earlier this week. Don was a devoted patron, a donor and a board member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his leadership and generosity really have helped shape the Dallas symphony across five decades,” she said.
In 1980, Stone served as DSO’s chairman of the Board of Governors and helped launch efforts to raise $80 million for Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and secure architect I.M. Pei.
In 1997, the Stones launched the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund and committed $1 million to continuously support new works. Some of the works supported through the fund include this year’s world premiere of Angélica Negrón’s requiem For Everything You Keep Losing. The fund also supported a Grammy award-winning violin concerto by Aaron Jay Kernis co-commissioned with the Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Melbourne Symphony.
“I think it is rare for a couple who so firmly believes in the future of classical music and creating opportunities for new musical voices to be heard to really put support behind that in a meaningful way to fuel that process, to ensure that it can come to fruition,” Burns said.
She said the DSO will continue the Stones’ legacy by commissioning new works through the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund.
Stone is survived by his children Michael, Lisa and Angela, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The family will have a private funeral.
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
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DALLAS — A late comeback attempt fell short for the Detroit Pistons.
They fell to the Dallas Mavericks in overtime, 116-114, after recovering from a third-period 18-point deficit. A dunk by Anthony Davis gave the Mavericks the lead for good with 1:32 to play in overtime.
Cade Cunningham (29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists) missed a short jumper with 7 seconds left that would’ve tied the game at 116, and Jalen Duren (17 points, 13 rebounds) couldn’t convert two offensive rebounds into a tip-in basket. Davis corralled the rebound with 0.9 seconds left, and the Mavericks called timeout.
The Pistons fouled Davis after the inbounds pass with a foul to give. Daniss Jenkins, who scored 11 points after halftime, stole the second inbounds pass with 0.6 seconds left but didn’t have enough time to get a shot off.
The Pistons trailed by 18 points with five minutes to play in the third quarter. Their bench unit was instrumental during a 31-11 run that gave the Pistons the lead again, 99-97, midway through the fourth quarter. They held Dallas to 38.5% shooting and forced nine turnovers in the second half.
No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg gave his Mavericks the lead, 110-109, with under 20 seconds to play with a midrange jumper. Isaiah Stewart was fouled by Davis on the other end with 3.4 seconds left, and he split the trip to the line to tie the game at 110. Klay Thompson missed a floater at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Down 86-68 with 4:57 to play in the third quarter, coach J.B. Bickerstaff looked to the end of his bench for a spark. Jenkins, Marcus Sasser and Paul Reed checked into the game for the first time in consecutive order, joining Ron Holland and Javonte Green. The Pistons have a Dallas-centric roster — Holland, Sasser and Jenkins are all from the city, and Cunningham is from nearby Arlington.
They led an 11-3 run to cut the deficit to 10, tallying four steals during the stretch — two for Green and one each for Jenkins and Reed. Cunningham checked in for Green to open the fourth quarter, and the run continued. A 3-pointer from Jenkins, coast-to-coast layup by Holland and midrange jumper from Jenkins extended the run to 21-7, cutting the deficit to 93-89 with under 10 minutes to play.
As he has done several times this season, Jenkins rose to the moment in the final period. An entry pass from Jenkins to Holland created an open layup to slash Dallas’ lead to two, and Jenkins made a layup over three Mavericks defenders to tie the game at 95 with 7:46 remaining and push the Pistons’ run to 27-9.
With 59 seconds left in the fourth, a pair of free throws from Jenkins extended the Pistons’ lead to 3, 109-106. He played 11 minutes and 32 seconds in the final period, second only to Cunningham, and overtime.
The Pistons lost Thompson — their primary defender on Flagg — midway through the second period after an exchange with an official.
With 5:09 remaining before halftime, Thompson tied up Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard under the rim and was whistled for a foul. Thompson didn’t like the call and got in the ref’s face, and was instantly ejected. NBA rules make it an auto-ejection when a player makes physical contact with an official.
It was a strong start for Thompson prior to the ejection, as he had eight points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal in nine minutes of play. Stewart entered for him in the second quarter.
In all, it was a rough night for the Pistons regarding the officials. Cunningham was whistled for a tech late in the second quarter after disagreeing with a call, and Bickerstaff was whistled for a tech during halftime after arguing with an official.
With 11:08 to play in the third quarter, Robinson suffered a knee-to-knee collision with Mavericks wing Naji Marshall. Robinson limped off of the floor and was initially ruled “questionable” to return until he was downgraded to “out” in the final period.
Robinson finished with two points and two rebounds, shooting 1-for-7 overall and 0-for-5 from 3. He missed two games in early December with a right ankle sprain.
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PHILADELPHIA – It was evident in July and August that Dallas Goedert was going to be a big part of the Eagles’ offense in the red zone. It felt that way most summers, but this time, with first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo in place, the Eagles are dialing up plays for the tight end.
“I think when I get a ball in my hand down there, I’m tough to tackle, I can find my way in, fight my way in,” said Goedert. “It’s just that our red-zone philosophy has changed a bit. We used to run a lot, a lot of quarterback sneaks, things like that down there. We’ve tried to find ways to get me the ball, which is really cool, and I’m gonna keep trying to make them work.”
So far, Goedert has nine touchdown catches. According to NFL Research, five of his touchdowns were thrown behind the line of scrimmage this season, the most by a non-running back in the Next Gen era.
“He’s such a physical guy,” said Patullo. “His determination to just get yards and have an impact on anything, whether it’s in the pass game, whether it’s gadgets, whatever it may be. He’s really dynamic with the ball in his hands. So anytime you can get the ball in his hands, obviously, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
However, the touchdown math didn’t add up for Goedert. He thought eight was the magic number to break the record for most TD catches by a tight end in franchise history, owned by Pete Retzlaff, but Retzlaff had 10 in 1965, meaning Goedert needs one more to break that dusty, 60-year-old mark.
“I thought it was eight, but I was wrong, so I thought I already had it,” he said.
Reminded that he would have had it already had he not dropped a wide-open throw to him in the end zone on Sunday, which would have given him a career-high three in one game, he winced, then answered.
“Yeah, scars right there,” he said. “That one hurts.”
With three games left, and with his heavy involvement in the red zone, it is reasonable to expect that the record will at least be tied, perhaps even broken.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “Anytime you can break a record, obviously things are going well for you. Obviously, winning is the most important thing and I want to do whatever I can to help win. If they’re giving me the ball down there, I’m gonna try to score. It would be a cool thing to have.”
Goedert’s production in the low red zone is a reason the Eagles lead the NFL in red-zone success, converting close to 70 percent of their trips (25-for-36) inside the 20 into touchdowns. The tight end has nine of those 25 red-zone TDs.
“We’ve had different things for me in the red zone throughout my career here, a lot of them just haven’t got called,” said Goedert. “Once they started calling them, I tried to make sure they worked so they could keep designing and calling other ones. Any time you go in the huddle and hear that play, knowing you have the opportunity to get in the end zone, it gets you kind of excited, for sure.”
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