The Dallas Mavericks haven’t leaned on oversized looks much in the early going. At least one of the relatively diminutive Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie has been a fixture in their nine most-used lineups.
But when they want to be, the Mavs can get positively gargantuan.
One such look, which featured Luka Dončić, Naji Marshall, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford, has a hilariously high plus-91.1 net rating. As you might expect, opponents have had trouble scoring against all of that size and length.
That lineup aside, Dallas has so many options to overwhelm teams with sheer mass. Gafford and Dereck Lively II don’t play together, but the Mavs can easily slot Maxi Kleber next to one or the other with some combination of Thompson, Washington or Marshall on the wings. Whenever Dončić, who’s listed conservatively at 6’7″ and 230 pounds, is the smallest player on the floor, it means the Mavs are towering over the competition.
Regardless of whether Dallas intends to play big more during the regular season, it’s going to be an option in the playoffs. And it might come in especially handy in a hypothetical rematch with the Celtics, who tend to prefer two-big lineups and oversized wings themselves.
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