1 stud and 1 dud from Cavs pummeling of Mavericks

1 stud from Cavs pummeling of Mavs: Laurrett Markkallen

Alright, I’m cheating here to squeeze two players into my single “stud” slot, but both Lauri Markkanen and Jarrett Allen deserve massive praise for how they absolutely dominated the Dallas Mavericks last night. The Mavs are a team that plays big itself, starting the 7’3″ Kristaps Porzingis at power forward. They were helpless all night against the one-two punch of Allen and Markkanen.

First, major props to Lauri Markkanen for rediscovering his shot and showing what it looks like to have a 7-foot marksman bombing away from outside. He shot 5-of-9 from deep, oblivious to contests from shorter players, helping to blow the game open with a few third-quarter bombs.

Inside Jarrett Allen was destroying the Mavs’ interior defenders, going through them for rebounds and inside shots. Much of his damage came in the pick-and-roll, where the Dallas defense was stretched past its breaking point trying to contain Darius Garland or Ricky Rubio at the point of attack, stop the best lob finisher in the league this season in Allen, and stop a 7-foot sniper in Markkanen from having any airspace outside.

Allen finished with 28 points, 14 rebounds and three assists of his own. He was his usual dominant self inside, forcing the Mavs away from their desired shots. Perhaps more surprising was how Markkanen played defensively, often matching up with Luka Doncic and preventing the MVP candidate from getting clean looks. Doncic had to settle for a longball often, which went in but is not his best work. Isolation 3-pointers also do little to get the rest of the team going.

Together, the two big men signed to long-term deals this summer absolutely destroyed the Dallas Mavericks, breaking them inside and outside. The rest of the league better watch out.