Head coach Jason Kidd may consider changing the starting lineup or tightening his 10-man rotation to help pull the Mavericks out of their current tailspin, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.
The Mavs have dropped their last five games by an average of 14.6 points and have the worst defensive rating in the league by a wide margin since the All-Star break. Townsend says Kidd “bristled” when asked if changes were needed before Tuesday’s game, but he was more open to the possibility after watching his team give up 137 points in a home loss to Indiana.
“We can look at different rotations,” he said. “We can look at different starting lineups. … We have options and we’ll explore those.”
Townsend suggests starting Daniel Gafford at center instead of rookie Dereck Lively II as an obvious change. Gafford had 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench against the Pacers, while Lively went scoreless and struggled on defense against Myles Turner.
“We’ve got a 20-year-old who’s starting at center and has never seen this before,” Kidd said. “… And there’s a rookie wall. He’s a young man who’s seeing the NBA for the first time. There’s gonna be ups and downs. But that’s why it’s called a team. And that’s why Gafford picked him up tonight. … Lively’s had a heck of a rookie season, and he’s going to only get better, but he could be tired. He’s never played this many games or minutes.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Victor Wembanyama will miss his seventh game of the season Thursday at Sacramento, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. The Spurs rookie sprained his right ankle at some point during Tuesday’s loss at Houston, and he was listed as questionable coming into that game with soreness in his left shoulder.
- Steven Adams visited his new Rockets teammates this week for the first time since being acquired in a trade with Memphis last month, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Adams is out for the rest of the season after having knee surgery in October, but he’s expected to be fully recovered and ready for training camp by fall. Adams said his doctors still have to determine a more definite recovery timeline. “(The next step) has to be cleared by a few different medical professionals because if it was up to me, I’d be behind a long time,” he said. “’Oh yeah, I can do this,’ but then ruin myself. It’s up to the surgeons, the one who did the surgery and also medical people I trust.”
- The Grizzlies could have Scotty Pippen Jr. back on the court by next week, tweets Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com. The second-year point guard, who signed a two-way contract with Memphis in January, has been out of action since February 12 with a bulging disc in his lower back.