NBA Halloween: Playing trick-or-treat with each team’s early season trend

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are a playoff-caliber team: Treat

The Dallas Mavericks are 3-1 through their first four games, beating the Washington Wizards in a contentious battle with Bradley Beal, the New Orleans Pelicans in a competitive road contest and the Denver Nuggets in a gritty road win. Their only loss has come by two points to the Portland Trail Blazers, a team notorious for racking up regular season wins.

To put it simply, these Mavs are good. They’re 2-0 on the road, they’ve still got head coach Rick Carlisle at the helm and Luka Doncic has been a flamethrower, averaging 25.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Concerns that his game would ever translate to the NBA look foolish, and his second season has just begun.

https://twitter.com/NBAUK/status/1187278301401944064?s=20

Even better, Kristaps Porzingis appears to be shaking off the rust quicker than expected after an unsteady preseason. The Unicorn is putting up an impressive 22.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 blocks in a hearty 31.5 minutes per game. His efficiency could stand to improve, as he’s only hitting 42.9 percent of his shots and 33.3 percent of his 3s, but that will come with time. He’s getting to the line 6.5 times a night and hasn’t been afraid to launch, jacking up 7.5 3-pointers per game. This dynamic duo is going to be special, and though “playoff-caliber” doesn’t necessarily mean “playoff berth” in the hyper-competitive West, Dallas should be in the running.