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The season is over for the Dallas Mavericks. Now, all eyes are on the offseason and August 2nd when teams can begin negotiating with free agents.
But we of all people know that waiting for the next big free agent to sign with the Mavericks can be stressful. And basketball should be fun. We also know the real Mavericks basketball junkies can’t wait until October when the 2021-22 season is supposed to start. This is why we’ll do flashback posts, to relive some of the fun and forgotten moments of the past season.
What happened
After a disapointing loss to the Hornets, the Mavericks followed up with one of the beter defensive performances of the season. The Mavericks defeated the Heat 98-83. Luka Dončić had 27 points and 15 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 points.
Fun moments
Luka Dončić showed glimpses of improved post and mid-range game in the first four games of the season, but this was the game where everybody could see his improvement is for real.
Dončić showcased his mid-range game, scoring on isolation plays against all kinds of defenders that Erik Spoelstra threw at him. The most flashy and the most impressive was this play against Bam Adebayo. An amazing display of footwork and balance and definitely one of Dončić’s signature plays of the past season.
Then there was a side-line out-of-bounds play when Dončić made a baseline fadeaway jumper over Jimmy Butler. Rick Carlisle went to Dončić's post-ups on ATO (after the timeout) and SLOB (sideline out-of-bounds) plays often this season.
The last example is an isolation play where Dončić ‘bullied’ Andre Iguodala to get to the paint, drew a foul, and still made the basket.
Dončić increased his mid-range frequency in the 2020-21 season. 41 percent of his shots came from mid-range. Dončić made 50 percent of his mid-range shots which ranked him in the top 96 percentile in the league. Adding turnaround jumpers and one-legged fadeaways to his already impressive offensive arsenal, made Dončić even more difficult to guard. New moves definitely served Dončić well in the Playoffs. 46 percent of his shots in the Playoffs came from the mid-range and he made 46 percent of them.
On to the next one!