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CLEVELAND — Dallas Mavericks coach Dusty May named one problem above the rest after Saturday night’s 127-117 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers: Dallas could not guard one on one.
Cleveland shot 53.3% from the field, made 15 of 40 3-point attempts, and outscored Dallas 54-42 in the paint. The Cavaliers did it without Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, James Harden, and Jarrett Allen, and six of their players scored at least 13 points.
According to Synergy Sports data, Cleveland scored 23 points on 19 isolation possessions. The Cavaliers scored 19 points on the 13 isolations Dallas defended with a single player, and nine of their isolations came in the fourth quarter. Dallas scored 3 points on six isolation possessions of its own.
Dusty May Points To Dallas’ Isolation Defense
May said Cleveland’s passing played a part, but he put the Cavaliers’ isolation offense ahead of it.
“Our inability to guard one on one was the biggest issue, and then they were able to get behind our defense, our switches,” May said. “I thought their passing, but their isolation offense was, and shot making was the difference.”
The pick-and-roll produced similar results for Cleveland. When Dallas committed a second defender to the ball handler, the Cavaliers scored 24 points on 17 possessions. They also scored 18 points on 17 guarded catch-and-shoot jumpers, according to Synergy.
Tyrese Proctor finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Meleek Thomas scored a career-high 20, Jaylon Tyson added 18, and Mario Hezonja scored a season-high 22 on 9-of-12 shooting. May said Cleveland’s guards, with their speed, size, and shooting, lined Dallas up all night.
“I’ve been impressed on film,” May explained. “I was actually talking about him earlier on the bus ride over today. He’s really improved. Seems like he gets better. He’s playing with a high level of confidence, and then these guys with speed, size, and shooting ability, they’ve been able to line us up and play really, really good one-on-one basketball.”
“I mean, those guys are really, really good one-on-one players,” May continued. “I thought their guards did a nice job on the glass as well when they were undersized, and it seemed like Hezonja made several back-breaking shots. We’d make a run, and he would make a big play, and credit to him. I mean, he’s been obviously a big pickup for them.”
Cleveland outrebounded Dallas 54-39. Proctor grabbed 11 rebounds, and Craig Porter Jr. had 9, including 4 on the offensive glass.
Caleb Martin Wants Second-Half Defense To Become The Dallas Mavericks’ Identity
Dallas committed all 8 of its turnovers before halftime. The Mavericks did not turn it over in the second half, Cleveland committed 10 turnovers after the break, and Dallas outscored the Cavaliers 64-56 over the final two quarters.
May said the second-half version of Dallas is the one he wants to see on defense.
“Just as a whole, we just have to play with the level of desperation we played in the second half,” May said. “I thought we competed really at a high level in the second half. Our sense of urgency to track down loose basketballs, to get our hands on 50-50s, to get deflections, to not let them be so comfortable, I thought was solid, and more of what we need our defensive identity to be and look like.”
Caleb Martin scored 15 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. On what Dallas could have done better defensively, he said the standard has to hold no matter who is on the floor.
“Everything. I think everything: our communication, the physicality, our pressure,” Martin said. “We did a better job in the second half. But we got to do that. It’s got to be our identity, and we got to be consistent no matter who’s playing, no matter what’s going on in the game.”
Dallas shot 41.9% from the field and 14-of-44 from three. Martin said defense is the part of the game a team controls when shots are not falling.
“It’s natural. I mean, obviously, we’re a lot of players are part of their toughest critic, and obviously, it’s easy to get down on yourself, but I mean, that’s part of the game,” Martin explained. “We’re not gonna make every shot, and at the end of the day, if you’re playing hard, good things happen. It doesn’t really matter if, the shots will eventually fall.”
“Just like you can start the game really hot and go cold. It could be the reverse for a team who’s not making shots early,” Martin continued. “Like the game, the game is, it’s a game of runs, and I think that we all know that. We just have to continue to believe that, and stay the course. And that’s why we gotta hang our hat on the defensive end, because that’s the one thing you control in the game.”
Dallas fell to 7-6. The Mavericks visit the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT at TD Garden to finish a back-to-back.
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