Jason Kidd must quickly fix his Klay Thompson — Error and make Key Change

Dallas Mavericks was able to walk away with a 137-136 win over New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday night as Mavericks was able to score on a very large volume despite New Orleans testing Dallas’ defense on the other side of the ball all night long. Dallas finally got the help of the injury department when Naji Marshall returned to the lineup after missing four games due to illness, and Marshall tiled in five points against his previous team despite being on a minute limit.

Dallas is still not fully healthy with any fantasy, but they get closer to this territory with each passing game and have survived this Doncic-less stretch respectively, even though they have dropped a too many coupling competitions. Ever since Doncic went down on Christmas Day against Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas has gone 7-12 and they could easily be around .500 over this stretch if they didn’t fall as many close games as the aforementioned.

Mavericks still have the opportunity to be an elite team during the autumn period this year, but they have to build so momentum when the All-Star break is close and they could certainly use more depth at the backup wing or large man position . Something else that can help Mavericks maximize their lineup before the playoffs would be to get Klay Thompson more involved offensively.

Kidd must continue to run actions to unlock Thompson’s violation

Dallas was in the tendency to make Thompson more of a gathering point in their offense back in December, but Thompson has not been awarded the same level of distance or appearance with Doncic out of the lineup due to injury. In Dallas ‘last two competitions, however, Thompson has tried 15 field goals each, and it has revolutionized Dallas’ violation. Kidd, who emphasizes getting Thompson several touches, has changed games for Mavs’ violation, but it wasn’t always this way.

Before Dallas’ last two matches, Thompson had tried only 15 or more field goals twice throughout the month of January, which is simply not enough for a movement shooter of his pedigree, although buckets were harder to come with Doncic sidelined. Mavericks and their coaching staff were firmly getting Thompson more involved offensively earlier in the season, but it seems that this view was changing until recently.

Dallas has become more creative with their off-ball actions to get Thompson open recently as they use a variety of pin-down, back screens and cross screens to feed the Thompson Open look on the perimeter and as a cut. These actions tend to be more fruitful with Doncic in the game, but Mavericks should have tried to get Thompson more involved offensively throughout January as it could have been the perfect time to let Thompson become more comfortable as a secondary ball trades.

Dallas’ offense is best maximized when Thompson hits all cylinders, and although they don’t have to force the ball down his throat when he has an off -shooting night, they could definitely look at him as a source of offense in pivotal scenarios more often. On the contrary, when Thompson is on a heater he was during the first quarter of Dallas’ Monday night victory over Washington Wizards, Mavericks has to do everything they can to keep getting him the ball when Thompson made Seven 3-Pointers in the first quarter of this game.

Thompson goes beyond the arch as it pays tremendous benefits for Dallas’ violation as it gives Thompson the opportunity to use his pumping and playmaking is more successful when the defense is pressed to contain his exterior shooting. Kidd even referred to this after Dallas’ win over Washington on Monday.

“We put screens, we drove things for him,” Kidd said. “He answered in a positive way. Klay is very selfless … (his teammates) made a conscious effort to make Klay go early, and he answered in a positive way and just made the game easier for everyone else.”

Kidd has performed a phenomenal job of encouraging his team to find Thompson in the last few matches, and this speed level must continue to move on to fully unlock his game.