Preventing Insanity: Mavs Can’t Afford to Start Dwight Powell vs. Suns in Game 3

Unfortunately for Dallas, though, that didn’t appear to happen, as the Mavs trotted out the same starting lineup and strategy from the series opener while watching the Suns run away with Game 2, 129-109. Phoenix now holds a commanding 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Dallas for the next two games.

As Albert Einstein once explained, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. Dallas hasn’t gotten that memo yet, and now its season is in jeopardy.

If the Mavs want any chance of getting back into this series with the high-powered, reigning Western Conference champion Suns, Kidd is going to have to make some real adjustments in Game 3, and that starts with pulling Dwight Powell from the starting lineup… and perhaps not even playing him at all. 

After starting each of the last two games in a 9-0 hole, it’s been painfully obvious that Powell’s presence on the floor has been the common denominator in the Mavs’ early struggles. By the eye test, when Powell eventually goes to the bench, Dallas then proceeds to play better and gets back in the game. The numbers match what our eyes are telling us too.

Powell has played just 28 minutes in this series so far, but he’s a -28 in those minutes and has recorded just eight total points and one rebound. Yes, you read that correctly: the Mavs’ starting center in the West semifinals has grabbed one rebound in two full games.

All of the Mavs’ other lineups without Powell in this series are a +1 against the Suns, despite Luka Doncic’s turnovers and the horrendous shooting percentages of Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie.

Powell is one of the team’s biggest leaders in the locker room. He had a career-best regular season, and he got his flowers for that from his teammates and the fan base alike — but at this point, with their season on the line, the Mavs just have to admit that this is a horrible matchup for Powell. He’d be much better suited for a Western Conference Finals matchup with the Golden State Warriors or Memphis Grizzlies if the Mavs can miraculously get to that point.

Whatever analogies you want to use for the situation — trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, trying to make “fetch” happen — the Mavs must forget about potentially hurting feelings and then adhere to what the stat sheet is telling them.

There are other adjustments that can be made as this best-of-seven series shifts to Dallas for the weekend, including Doncic’s communication with his teammates and figuring out how to get Brunson to shoot better than 32 percent from the field.

But the biggest elephant in the room at the moment is Powell, and the Mavs would be portraying insanity to not start there with their adjustments in Game 3.