‘Connect The Group’: Dusty May Explains Caleb Martin’s Move Into Dallas Mavericks’ Starting Lineup

DALLAS — Caleb Martin made his second straight start for the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night and scored the first basket of a 130-93 win over the Brooklyn Nets at American Airlines Center. His running 22-footer came 21 seconds in, off a feed from Kyrie Irving.

Martin finished with 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 19 minutes, 13 seconds, and Dallas outscored Brooklyn by 11 with him on the floor. Mavericks coach Dusty May said Irving’s uncertain availability factored into the decision, since the staff does not always know which nights he will sit.

“We tinkered with a number of different guys in that spot,” May said. “And we just felt like with our team, especially on nights Kyrie’s not playing, and we don’t know exactly when those are going to be. We thought Caleb gives us the best chance to be elite defensively, and from a toughness standpoint, and we also felt like the other four guys are scoring at a high clip. That we needed someone to kind of give themselves up and connect the group by also still being a threat.”

“He banged in his first jump shot,” May continued. “After that, I thought he played really, really well. And there’s going to be some games when he steps up and gives us 15 or whatever the case, because that’s what the game dictates. But I thought tonight he did what he does. He played a very good floor game. He’s bright out there.”

“We need his voice on both sides of the ball, and we just have a lot of really good players, and it’s tough to decide which ones to go with,” May added. “But we just feel like with that group, he allows us to be big, to be physical, and have a real defensive presence, but also have a high basketball IQ on the offensive end.”

Caleb Martin Has Started Three Of The Last Four Games

Martin first started on Nov. 2 against Sacramento, when Irving sat out. Zaccharie Risacher started two nights later at San Antonio, and Martin has started both games since.

Max Christie started each of the first seven games and has come off the bench in the last two. Christie entered Sunday shooting 26.3% from three-point range through eight games, though May said before the game that he thinks of Christie as a 40% 3-point shooter over his career and that early-season percentages carry little weight.

The current starting five of Irving, Martin, Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford is 2-0. Irving has played in eight of Dallas’ 10 games.

Martin came in averaging 4.6 points in 18.2 minutes across five games and had made 5 of his 10 3-point attempts. Flagg said Martin was part of one sequence that started with Irving getting out of a double team.

“That play that you were talking about, I think I remember Kai got it out of the double team quick,” Flagg said. “I flashed, Caleb showed for Kai, … and then I had Gaff quick. So I think it’s just our group coming together and everybody just sacrificing and making the right play, and it makes it easy for everybody.”

Dallas Mavericks’ Defense With Martin In The Lineup

Martin assisted on Gafford’s cutting dunk with 6:53 left in the third quarter and on Washington’s 3-pointer 44 seconds later, which made it 88-62. The Nets shot 38.8% from the field and 28.2% from deep, and the Mavericks won the rebounding battle 46-30.

Switching is central to what Dallas does, and May said it requires every player to know the tendencies of the whole opposing roster.

“Our scouting report. I thought we probably had graded it an A-minus, B-plus on our scouting report discipline,” May explained. “We knew the tendencies, and when you switch as much as we do, it’s easier said than done to know the tendencies, because you need to know them for basically the entire roster, because you’ll be switched on anyone at any time.”

“I thought tonight we had good discipline,” May noted. “I thought we were active. I thought our hand activity and communication was as good as it’s been. And like I said, those things have to be constant. Whether you’re making shots, you’re missing shots, those are the things we’ve been able to hang our hat on.”

Martin did not play in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks host the Indiana Pacers on Monday at 7 p.m. CT.