{"id":701193,"date":"2026-04-06T10:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701193\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:32:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:32:38","slug":"player-grades-grading-the-mavericks-134-128-win-vs-lakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701193\/","title":{"rendered":"Player Grades: Grading the Mavericks 134-128 win vs. Lakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time in nearly three months, the Dallas Mavericks finally won a game at the American Airlines Center against a depleted Lakers squad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks offense was clicking all night, with the paint scoring being especially impressive. While the defensive effort was lackluster, it\u2019s hard to ask anymore of this Mavericks team.<\/p>\n

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Without further ado, let\u2019s get to the grade.<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg: Off The Charts45 PTS \/ 8 REB \/ 9 AST \/ 2 STL \/ 1 BLK \u2013 39 MIN<\/p>\n

Since 1968, no rookie has scored more points over a two game span than Cooper Flagg.<\/p>\n

Flagg was simply unstoppable Sunday night, as the Lakers had no answers for his constant downhill pressure. This game was also very different than Friday night\u2019s 51 point explosion, as Flagg dominated the paint and free-throw line.<\/p>\n

It is simply hard to put into words how good Flagg already is, because how is the youngest player in the league this good?<\/p>\n

And for any Mavericks fans who might have tuned out after the trade, Flagg might be better than anyone who came before him.<\/p>\n

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Daniel Gafford: B+7 PTS \/ 7 REB \/ 0 AST \/ 2 STL \/ 2 BLK \u2013 20 MIN<\/p>\n

Daniel Gafford played another good game, but left with another injury.<\/p>\n

In my opinion, Gafford should be shut down until next season to let him heal from his various ailments.<\/p>\n

Max Christie: C8 PTS \/ 1 REB \/ 2 AST \/ 2 STL \/ 0 BLK \u2013 25 MIN<\/p>\n

Max Christie continues to feel invisible in almost every game he plays, as Sunday night was another meaningless performance.<\/p>\n

Unless Christie can shoot with more volume he doesn\u2019t really add that much positive impact.<\/p>\n

I still believe in the 23-year-old shooting-guard, but he needs to play better.<\/p>\n

P.J. Washington: B15 PTS \/ 5 REB \/ 0 AST \/ 0 STL \/ 0 BLK \u2013 30 MIN<\/p>\n

P.J. Washington is simply not an important player to this team going forward.<\/p>\n

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While Washington can be a great role-player, I think his fit in Dallas simply doesn\u2019t work anymore.<\/p>\n

Naji Marshall: B13 PTS \/ 7 REB \/ 7 AST \/ 2 STL \/ 0 \u2013 32 MIN<\/p>\n

If Naji Marshall could make threes, he would be a star, but he can\u2019t<\/p>\n

If the Mavericks elect to keep Marshall this offseason, his minutes should be heavily staggered with Flagg.<\/p>\n

But past the on-court fit, Marshall\u2019s locker room presence might be too important to trade.<\/p>\n

Brandon Williams: A13 PTS \/ 2 REB \/ 5 AST \/ 2 STL \/ 0 BLK \u2013 25 MIN<\/p>\n

Everyone knows that the Mavericks need to reshape their guard room, but Brandon Williams may be worth keeping around.<\/p>\n

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Specifically he would thrive in a third guard role where his speed and change of pace could surprise defenses.<\/p>\n

Now, if he could add a three-point shot, his ceiling could be limitless.<\/p>\n

Klay Thompson: B+11 PTS \/ 0 REB \/ 2 AST \/ 0 STL \/ 0 BLK \u2013 18 MIN<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still incredible to see how much gravity Klay Thompson possesses, even at 36 years old.<\/p>\n

While I may be in the minority, the Mavericks should bring back Thompson next year unless they receive real assets in a trade.<\/p>\n

Thompson is very old, but can still shoot threes with the best of the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in nearly three months, the Dallas Mavericks finally won a game at the American…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[6071,20309,7,225,686,149,4057,2619,498,185,150,166,7139,5989,6,59567,2098,490,682],"class_list":{"0":"post-701193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-american-airlines-center","9":"tag-ast","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-cooper-flagg","12":"tag-dallas","13":"tag-dallas-mavericks","14":"tag-dallasmavericks","15":"tag-daniel-gafford","16":"tag-klay-thompson","17":"tag-lebron-james","18":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","19":"tag-mavericks","20":"tag-max-christie","21":"tag-naji-marshall","22":"tag-nba","23":"tag-reb","24":"tag-texas","25":"tag-the-mavericks","26":"tag-washington"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116357313629208243","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}