‘Saying What We Saw’: Dusty May Credits Dallas Mavericks Players For Fixing Defensive Communication Before Houston Rockets Rematch

DALLAS — Communication has been the biggest area of improvement for the Dallas Mavericks’ defense since their season-opening loss to the Houston Rockets, Mavericks coach Dusty May said Friday, and he credited his players for recognizing the problem during that game.

Houston scored 128 points in the Oct. 21 opener at Toyota Center. In four games since, Dallas has allowed 105 points to the Indiana Pacers, 122 to the San Antonio Spurs, 109 to the Miami Heat, and 96 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Mavericks are 3-1 in that stretch.

May said there were probably eight or 10 possessions in the opener when Dallas had more players back in transition than Houston did, some with four Mavericks against two Rockets. The rematch tips off at 7 p.m. CT at American Airlines Center.

“In all honesty, it’s the communication. And I want to give our guys a lot of credit. They recognized it live at Houston that we just weren’t saying what we saw,” May said. “And so that became instantly a … a major point of improvement where if we do this, we could make a significant jump immediately. And so the guys have done it at a much better level.”

“And like we said, after the Houston game, there were probably eight or 10 instances where we had more bodies back. We maybe had four guys and they had two. And we were just kind of assuming that he was going to take them and he was going to cover the rim and he was going to do this. And so it just didn’t,” May continued. “And so just simply by communicating, we were able to force teams to play in half-court against a set defense.”

“And so credit our guys for recognizing it and then also making that adjustment. But Houston’s going to challenge us in transition,” May added. “We’re going to have to be even better now than we were the last couple games.”

Houston Rockets’ 38-12 Second Quarter In The Opener

The Rockets pushed the ball 9 times in the second quarter on Oct. 21, 4 of them off Dallas turnovers, and outscored the Mavericks 9-0 in fast-break points. Houston won the quarter 38-12 and led 70-38 at halftime.

After that game, May said a couple of breaks went against Dallas during the run and that the group did not hold its composure. Fixing the transition defense had been one of the priorities of training camp.

“First and foremost, the communication, half-court and full-court,” May said after the opener. “We’ve spent a lot of time. That was one of our priorities in training camp was to fix the transition defense. We thought we had made strides, and tonight when things weren’t going well, we just, we let go of our principles, we lost our urgency.”

“And that was ultimately when the game got away from us when they were just, we had three or four guys back and we were assuming one guy was gonna match up with Jabari or whoever,” May continued. “To be honest, they did a better job.”

The Dallas Mavericks’ Defense Since

Oklahoma City came to American Airlines Center on Wednesday allowing a league-low 100.8 points per game and left with its first loss of the season. The Thunder went 5-of-32 from 3-point range, a season low for them and the lowest by any Dallas opponent this season, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot 2-of-10 after halftime with Zaccharie Risacher as his primary defender.

Two nights before that, Dallas held Miami to 25 points in the fourth quarter of a 113-109 win and finished with 10 blocks. With 31 seconds left and a two-point lead, Cooper Flagg blocked a 3-point attempt by Andrew Wiggins, and Risacher blocked a Davion Mitchell drive with 5.5 seconds remaining.

Houston comes in off a 132-100 win at the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, when Fred VanVleet scored 24 points, Amen Thompson added 23, and Kevin Durant had 18. The Rockets have also beaten the Spurs in Austin and the Atlanta Hawks twice, and they host Oklahoma City on Saturday night.