Mavericks show off epic offensive potential against Spurs

It won’t always look so easy. Shots won’t always fall better than 50 percent because of the three-point arc.

But the Mavericks have given us a good shot of what they hope will be an unstoppable force with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic at the forefront of what has become an epic assault since they got together.

They scored a season-best 142 points against the San Antonio Spurs to win by 26 points. In the five games Irving had with the Mavericks since the trade (three with Luca), they averaged 124.8 points per game.

They shot over 39 percent from threes in four of those five.

Protection? Well, we’ll take care of that later.

But the varying styles and pace at which the Mavericks can play have created confusing moments for their opponents. They have picked up the pace but can still slow it down when the situation calls for it.

“I don’t have to say much,” said Tim Hardaway Jr. “We are raising some questions.”

Hardaway scored 22 points against the Spurs from the bench. He hit 6 for 11 from a distance. He joined Justin Holiday (five) and Reggie Bullock (four) as the Mavericks, who had four or more 3-pointers.

The bottom line is clear: this attack will be fun to watch.

Here are some more takeaways from the victory over San Antonio:

ASSISTANTS AROUND: Since the trade for Irving, the Mavericks have averaged 25.7 assists per game. That’s a big jump from the 22.0 they averaged before the deal. “The ball is moving,” coach Jason Kidd said. “When people say that Luka and Kai need the ball, they also know how to use their teammates. And their teammates are working right now.”

SHARED THE DIFFERENCE: With Irving and Doncic, the Mavericks have two of the best in the NBA for hitting the paint, hitting the rim and a strong finish. “When you can finish on the rim and then in the paint, that helps,” Kidd said. “A lot of times the ones they don’t lead to offensive rebounds or the free throw line. So, that’s what both of these guys can do. Luca did it in the first quarter. I think he hit the paint 10 times. When you have these two quarterbacks hitting the paint and able to get to the rim, we’d say Luka is a great finisher and Kai is the best finisher in the league with any hand. So being able to get to the paint or the rim is great.”

NEAREST PROTECTION: The Mavericks passed 52.3 percent of their shots. This is the fifth game in a row when the opponent makes at least half of his shots. But rookie Justin Holiday, who had a couple of interceptions and knows a thing or two about sticky defense, said he saw hope. “The comment I made on the bench was, ‘I feel like the guys were there to help me.’ The guys changed and did what we did in practice,” he said. “We know exactly what we have to do in certain situations. This is the first step to becoming a good defensive team. I just think that if we have a little more time, I think we have a lot of potential to do well on the other end.”

Twitter: @ESefko