Josh Green is doing useful things

Josh Green has made more than a handful of solid basketball plays in the Mavericks little two-game winning streak, helping Dallas win two straight for the first time in over a month.

He’s made three pointers in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. He has a combined 11 rebounds in his 39 total minutes across the wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Hornets. Green even skied for a nice alley-oop jam Monday night against the Hornets. Green’s 15 points in these two games is the most points he’s scored in back-to-back games in his career. Things are trending up for Green for the first time in a long time.

Instead of showing any of those plays just mentioned, here’s a play that ended in a Mavericks missed shot. Dallas didn’t score any points here, but just look at this pass cross court pass from Green.

For a player that can look as rudderless as Green has on the offensive end in his short NBA career, this is a marvelous pass. Green throws this from the right corner almost perfectly into Tim Hardaway Jr.’s shooting pocket, as Hardaway stands across the floor on the left wing. This is a pass we see from Luka Doncic a dozen times a game, so maybe it doesn’t seem so impressive in this singular moment. But for a player like Green, who has struggled to carve out consistent playing time since being draft 18th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, it feels exceptional.

Funny enough, Green making some double-take worthy passes has sort of been one of the few things you can rely on when he does hit the floor. Hitting threes, scoring buckets and limiting defensive miscues have been the issues and in the last two games, he’s mostly cleaned those up. The Mavericks lineup is desperate for any athleticism on the perimeter and after a humiliating loss to the Pacers last week that dropped the Mavericks to a game under .500, it appears coach Jason Kidd is trying something new and Green hasn’t disappointed. Combined with center Moses Brown, the Mavericks are reaching deep into their bag to try to pull the team out of the serious funk it’s been in all season.

Who knows if this can last as the Mavericks schedule gets tougher with games against the Lakers, Bucks and Jazz before the month closes, but for the first time since he’s been on the team, Josh Green is doing things and it couldn’t have come at a better time.