Player Grades – Recapping The Mavericks Vs. The Pelicans

The Dallas Mavericks took on the New Orleans Pelicans Monday night to close out a seemingly endless road trip. The Pelicans dealt Dallas a 129-111 loss, resulting in a potentially meaningful impact on each team’s draft chances this offseason. With the loss, Dallas and New Orleans are now tied in the standings, but the Pelicans have a 3-1 season series advantage (or disadvantage) over the Mavs.

Let’s get to the grades!

Ryan Nembhard: C-

2 PTS / 4 REB / 6 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 25 MIN

A 1-for-8 shooting night drives Nembhard’s grade down despite a solid assist total and even a few rebounds. He didn’t have much playing time, but regardless, there was very little to write home about Monday night.

Max Christie: B+

12 PTS / 4 REB / 0 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – 32 MIN

Christie may just be finding his form again, with the second night of a back-to-back looking much like the first night. Christie didn’t light up the box score, but he hit his shots (4-for-7 overall; 4-for-6 from deep) and even played a bit of defense in a solid game where Naji Marshall and Cooper Flagg (rightfully) got a ton of touches, leaving him to make the most of what he could. Fewer three-point attempts and more drives or mid-range shots would have been nice, but you can’t argue with the results from deep in this one.

Naji Marshall: A+

32 PTS / 8 REB / 7 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 33 MIN

Although he wasn’t as blazing hot from the field as he was on Sunday, Marshall was by far the best player for the Mavs on Monday night and converted on half of his 24 shot attempts. He did just about everything right, and it’s a struggle to find anything to be unhappy about. Maybe no steals or blocks, but that is a nit-picky stretch. Marshall was just awesome across the board.

Cooper Flagg: B+

21 PTS / 7 REB / 8 AST / 2 STL / 1 BLK – 30 MIN

While not as dominant as Marshall was, Flagg had a great game in his own right. This is the second game in a row his turnover total was high (four), but his assist total was quite high as well. Once he refines that part of his game just a bit, he’s likely going to maintain those high-assist nights with low-turnover performances and it’s going to be amazing.

P.J. Washington: A-

18 PTS / 7 REB / 1 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 31 MIN

Washington has been showing glimpses of the player so many fell in love with. His grade drifts a bit high, in part because he re-established his baseline somewhat low of late. Monday night, he was 7-for-13, including 4-for-8 from deep, had zero turnovers, and committed only a single foul in a very nice complementary game.

Marvin Bagley: A-

9 PTS / 9 REB / 1 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 19 MIN

Bagley has largely won me over at this point (if not many games ago). He was 4-for-7, including hitting his only three-point attempt and sniffed a double-double in under 20 minutes. Even better, six of his nine boards were on the offensive end. This was an efficient game where Bagley, like Christie, made the most of his minutes and touches.

Khris Middleton: C-

6 PTS / 4 REB / 1 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – 18 MIN

It’s not immediately clear what happened with Middleton Monday night, but it wasn’t exactly pretty. He did a little bit here and there, but was only 2-for-9 in a game where he just never got comfortable.

Final Thoughts

The Mavericks have lost three of four matchups with the Pelicans, with whom they are now tied in the standings. The Pelicans are trending in the opposite direction as Dallas over the past few weeks, so the Mavs may just secure a lower place in the standings when all is said and done. While this obviously isn’t the goal, the silver lining to a tough season is a potentially better draft pick come summertime.

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