NBA: Carlisle ennobles Kleber: “Makes the difference”

The Dallas Mavericks have won nine of the past eleven games by beating Portland Trail Blazers. Another factor is Maxi Kleber, who received a lot of praise from coach Rick Carlisle. The Mavs also get a lot of respect from their opponents.

“He currently makes the difference at both ends of the field,” enthused coach Rick Carlisle after the Mavs’ victory over the Blazers. Kleber put on 8 points, 3 steals and 1 block in 16 minutes and currently has the best netrating of all Mavs players this season (+15.6).

Kleber also caused a sensation when he got stuck on the ring after a putback dark and pointed in Prince style towards Mavs Bank at the Dave Chappelle Show. “It just happened and wasn’t intended,” said the laughing glue after the game to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “We just had it going at this stage of the game.”

In general there is a lot going on for the Mavs at the moment, who are now in seventh place in the highly competitive Western Conference. “They’ve now taken some impressive wins against some really good teams,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts, who won the title as assistant coach with the Mavs in 2011, had to admit.

“They move the ball very well, have lots of shooters and several playmakers. They have boys who can hurt you every night.” Especially defensively the Texans have increased enormously. In the past eleven games, the Mavs left only 101.6 points per 100 ball possessions, third place in the league in that period.

“Defensively we are really good at the moment, especially at home”, J.J. Barea was pleased. “We play with a lot of energy and passion, also thanks to our great fans. We now have the confidence that we believe we can beat anyone at home.”

The Mavs will continue their journey in the coming night, when they will be guests of the New Orleans Pelicans. Then three home games against the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks follow, before the Luka Doncic and Co. compete in the Phoenix Suns.