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MINNEAPOLIS — Caleb Martin said at shootaround Thursday at Target Center that being versatile enough to give the Dallas Mavericks what they need is one of his superpowers as a player. He has started each of Dallas’ last three games alongside Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford.
In the last of those starts, Monday’s 125-122 win over the Indiana Pacers at American Airlines Center, Martin finished with 0 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists in 18 minutes, 59 seconds. He went 0-of-2 from the field. With 0.9 seconds left, he tipped away Andrew Nembhard’s inbounds pass to end Indiana’s final possession. The official play-by-play records it as a steal.
After Sunday’s 130-93 win over the Brooklyn Nets, Mavericks coach Dusty May said Martin gives Dallas its best chance to be elite defensively. May also said the team needed someone to “connect the group by also still being a threat.”
Dallas faces the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night. Against Indiana, Martin had 1 assist in the first half and 4 after halftime.
“I’m very comfortable in that,” Martin said. “I’ve always been a guy where my role and my, what I need, has to fluctuate. You know what I’m saying? I think that’s one of my superpowers as a player, is to be able to kind of be versatile and just give the group what they need.”
“Not everybody can do that, so you can’t always look at it from a perspective where it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re not scoring and you’re not putting points on the boards,’” Martin said. “I do a lot of things where it doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. I find value in that.”
“It’s really cool and different whenever you’re in a place, especially in this league, where you’re playing for coaches who find value in that too,” Martin said. “So I love that, and … they truly want to just figure out a way to win, and I appreciate that, and everybody else does here too.”
Martin first started on Nov. 2 against the Sacramento Kings, when Irving sat out. Zaccharie Risacher started two nights later at San Antonio, and Martin has started every game since.
“I just try to go in there and give what the group needs,” Martin said. “Obviously, we got a lot of talent and a lot of scoring and a lot of attention and gravity in those groups. So I just want to be a guy that can complement those guys to put them in the best position … So I just try to go in there and get it popping, popping the ball and popping with energy.”
“And on defense, obviously, get my best effort, no matter what’s going on in the game,” Martin said. “So just staying level and giving those guys what they need.”
Caleb Martin On Short-Roll Reads In The Dallas Mavericks’ Starting Unit
Martin’s first assist Monday came on a Washington 3-pointer with 6:02 left in the first quarter. In the third, he set up a Flagg floater and two Irving 3-pointers within 2 minutes, 30 seconds. The second of those 3-pointers cut Indiana’s lead to 76-71 with 7:56 left in the quarter. His fifth assist came on another Irving 3-pointer, which put Dallas ahead 98-97 with 9:36 to play.
“I’m always, I’m just trying to figure out, when I’m in the short roll, just quick and best decisions possible,” Martin said. “While also just continue to be comfortable and staying confident in the decision making there, and not getting bored of the reads.”
“If the read is there, the same read is there every time, and guys aren’t taking that away, I’m gonna keep making the same read until we hurt the other team and they adjust,” Martin said. “So those are just my thoughts. But it really just, as soon as I turn and see what I see, and then I’ll just kind of break it down like that.”
Indiana shot 60% from the field in the first half Monday and 45.2% in the second half. Dallas outscored the Pacers 69-56 after halftime.
“We have a lot of potential,” Martin said. “We have so much more room to grow too on both ends with that unit and as a team. And that’s the really cool thing about right now. I feel like we’re finding our stride as a group, and I feel like we have so much more to do and so much more room to grow as a group and as a starting unit.”
“So I’m just continuing to keep trying to build and whatever they need, and also find my game and grow that within my role as well,” Martin said. “So there’s a lot of room for not only us but myself to grow as well.”
Martin On The Indiana Pacers’ Final Inbounds Pass
Indiana cut the lead to 123-122 on a 3-pointer with 20.6 seconds left. Irving made two free throws with 18 seconds left to make it 125-122. The Pacers missed a 3-pointer at the other end with 6.5 seconds to go.
Washington grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 4 seconds left. He missed both free throws. Indiana rebounded the second miss and called timeout with 3.7 seconds remaining, and Martin checked in for Irving during the stoppage.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 29 points, 26 of them in the first half. Nembhard finished with 12 points and 12 assists.
“We did a good job on the first action, blowing it up, and I knew the next best option typically is trying to throw it over,” Martin said.
“They tried to give it to him on that backside, so when I saw it go up, it just kind of went a little bit slow-mo,” Martin said. “I feel like I got there a little slower than I really wanted to, but I was fortunate enough to get a fingertip on it. Just disrupt the play.”
The win over Indiana followed a 112-100 win over the Utah Jazz on Nov. 6 and the win over Brooklyn two nights later. Dallas enters Thursday at 7-4.
“I just think that we’ve just been staying the course,” Martin said. “I think we have, like, the ultimate buy-in from the group, and I think that’s been, like, an important part of the quick progressions and, like, the carryover to games.”
“I just think that we’ve just been staying the course and staying positive, and everybody trying to come in and be prepared when the name is called,” Martin said.
Minnesota is 8-3. Tip-off at Target Center is set for 7 p.m. CT.
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