While rotations tend to tighten as the playoffs progress, Jason Kidd did the opposite in Game 3 against the Celtics. After five minutes of play, the Mavs coach already sent Derek Lively II and Jaden Hardy to replace Daniel Gafford and Derrick Jones Jr. A few minutes later, Maxi Kleber entered for PJ Washington.
At the end of the quarter, it was Dante Exum's turn to arrive, while Tim Hardaway Jr had to wait a few more minutes, just like Josh Green to make Luka Doncic breathe.
That’s a total of… 11 players mobilized for the first 24 minutes alone. Where Joe Mazzulla, over the entire match, only mobilized eight players. “ We were trying to find someone to come off the bench and give us a spark. It doesn't always have to be someone who takes a shot. I think the guys that played tonight helped us take the lead or get back into the game “, judge Jason Kidd.
The Lively impact, the Hardaway awkwardness
We can think of Dante Exum for example who made the most of his playing time quite well. His 3 minutes on the floor were enough to see him fly towards the circle with authority at the very end of the first quarter.
“ When you look at some of the guys that played, we had some good shots, some made them, some didn't. I think the group that played, once the third quarter got away from us, showed that they continued to play », continues the technician, thinking of Derek Lively II, whose positive state of mind he appreciated, or Josh Green, present in the Mavs' comeback in the fourth quarter.
The last two mentioned were the only replacements to have a significant impact. The second pivot, author of a double-double (11 points and 13 rebounds), still benefited from more playing time (30 minutes) than Daniel Gafford. Another very mobilized player, Tim Hardaway Jr. missed his five shot attempts in 19 minutes. The Kleber – Hardy pair was not much happier (0/3 between them).
“ Also, with the players we sent onto the field, with the fatigue, we tried to have fresh legs and keep everyone fresh. We knew it was going to be decided in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, that's where we lost Luka », Regrets Jason Kidd whose superstar, expelled, had one of his lowest playing times in these playoffs (38 minutes all the same).
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Luka Doncic | 70 | 37.5 | 48.7 | 38.2 | 78.6 | 0.8 | 8.4 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 33.9 |
| Kyrie Irving | 58 | 35.0 | 49.7 | 41.1 | 90.5 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 25.6 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | 79 | 26.8 | 40.2 | 35.3 | 85.2 | 0.3 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 14.4 |
| Pj Washington | 29 | 32.2 | 42.1 | 31.4 | 62.7 | 1.1 | 5.1 | 6.2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 11.7 |
| Daniel Gafford | 29 | 21.5 | 78.0 | 0.0 | 60.7 | 2.2 | 4.7 | 6.9 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 11.2 |
| Derek Lively II | 55 | 23.5 | 74.7 | 0.0 | 50.6 | 2.5 | 4.4 | 6.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 8.8 |
| Derrick Jones | 76 | 23.5 | 48.3 | 34.3 | 71.3 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 8.6 |
| Josh Green | 57 | 26.4 | 47.9 | 38.5 | 68.4 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 8.2 |
| Grant Williams | 47 | 26.4 | 41.3 | 37.6 | 74.5 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 8.1 |
| Dante Exum | 55 | 19.8 | 53.3 | 49.1 | 77.9 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 7.8 |
| Jaden Hardy | 73 | 13.6 | 40.7 | 36.2 | 77.6 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 7.3 |
| Dexter Dennis | 4 | 7.5 | 52.6 | 12.5 | 33.3 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Alex Fudge | 2 | 12.9 | 55.6 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 5.5 |
| Maxi Kleber | 43 | 20.3 | 43.2 | 34.8 | 70.2 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 4.4 |
| Seth Curry | 36 | 12.7 | 37.2 | 36.3 | 89.5 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 4.3 |
| Richaun Holmes | 23 | 10.3 | 55.9 | 0.0 | 57.1 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 3.4 |
| Dwight Powell | 63 | 13.3 | 67.9 | 33.3 | 70.8 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 3.3 |
| Aj Lawson | 42 | 7.4 | 44.6 | 26.0 | 65.2 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.2 |
| Brandon Williams | 17 | 6.6 | 37.0 | 20.0 | 64.7 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| Olivier-maxence Prosper | 40 | 8.4 | 38.5 | 28.9 | 68.3 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| Markieff Morris | 26 | 8.3 | 33.8 | 35.7 | 83.3 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| Greg Brown III | 6 | 6.6 | 45.5 | 33.3 | 44.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
