Walter Clayton Jr. Kept Dallas’ Second Unit Connected

Walter Clayton Jr. had five points in Dallas’ 130-93 victory over Brooklyn, a modest total in a 37-point game. His six assists told the better story. In just 16 minutes, Clayton supplied the passes that kept Dallas’ offense functioning when the lineup began to move away from its primary scorers.

For the Mavericks, that work began before the game was beyond repair. Clayton’s first assist came with 11:49 left in the second quarter, when Cooper Flagg turned his pass into a driving dunk that put Dallas ahead 35-26. Sixty-seven seconds later, Max Christie scored on another Clayton feed, and the Mavericks led 41-30.

At 8:14, Clayton found Zaccharie Risacher for a layup that made the score 51-32.

Those three plays came during Dallas’ best stretch of separation. The Mavericks scored 33 points in the second quarter and carried a 66-46 lead into halftime. Clayton was not merely filling a possession between starter shifts; he was helping deliver the ball to players who finished the possession cleanly.

Flagg attacked the rim, Christie converted inside, and Risacher got to the basket. The passes were simple in the box score, but the timing kept Dallas from becoming a one-player offense.

Clayton contributed beyond passing during that stretch. He collected a defensive rebound at 10:25, then stole a bad pass from Nolan Traore at 9:59. Six seconds later, Clayton threw a bad pass of his own and was charged with a turnover.

That sequence keeps the cameo in proportion: active and productive, but hardly immaculate. A reserve who commits a mistake and answers it with continued involvement is more valuable than one who disappears after the mistake, but the mistake still belongs in the account.

Flagg finished with 25 points and 12 assists; Irving had 21 points and four assists. The Mavericks’ primary creators had much larger jobs than Clayton. That makes his contribution easier to appreciate. He could take a turn with the ball without Dallas losing a way to score when its rotation changed.

Clayton also had the advantage of players who could finish quickly. A pass to Christie in the lane and a pass to Flagg on the move asked for different things. Having several destinations for the ball let Clayton help without needing to do his best imitation of either starter.

His final three assists arrived in a different setting. Dallas led 100-71 after three quarters when Clayton fed Flagg for a 24-foot three-pointer with 11:30 left in the fourth. At 4:50, he found Risacher for a 26-foot three, and at 4:12, Christie hit a 23-foot three from Clayton’s pass.

Those baskets helped the reserves keep the offense moving, but they came after the game had become lopsided. They should not carry the same weight as the second-quarter assists that helped turn a competitive margin into a 20-point halftime lead.

There were rough edges. Clayton traveled in the third quarter, and Dallas committed 21 turnovers as a team. His five points and four rebounds helped, though they don’t explain why his minutes held up. What mattered was the variety of the passes and how quickly the receivers could make something of them.

There is an easy way to tell the two stretches apart. In the second quarter, Dallas could still use another good possession to keep Brooklyn from making a run. In the fourth, the lead gave Clayton room to try a different kind of pass. The first set of assists tells me more about his place in the rotation.

His six assists went to three teammates: twice each to Flagg, Christie and Risacher. The early baskets came inside. The later ones came from beyond the arc. Clayton didn’t have to take many shots to find his place in the offense; he could leave that part to whichever teammate was ready for the ball.

Sources

ESPN: final game record and play-by-play

Associated Press via ESPN: game reporting

Mavericks: regional broadcast footprint