Kidd finally explains the story behind the Mavericks’ breakout guard’s shocking bench move

The Dallas Mavericks are finally back above .500 after falling to 5-7 three games ago as the Mavericks cruised past the injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans by a score of 132-91 on Tuesday night. The Mavericks are now 8-7 and 1-1 in Emirates NBA Cup West Group C as Tuesday night’s win marked Dallas’ second game of the season tournament.

This game had serious repercussions for obvious reasons and the Mavericks answered the call by destroying the Pelicans in every way, cementing Dallas’ first three-game winning streak of the season. The Mavericks were helped by the return of Luka Doncic, as Doncic scored 26 points on 10-16 shooting from the field along with three steals after missing Sunday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a bruised right knee.

Doncic’s defense was one of the key factors in Dallas getting off to a good start in this contest, especially after a few blunders late this season. However, another big factor in Dallas’ victory in this game was the fact that the Mavericks had 56 points on their bench.

Several players are finding their way into Dallas’ bench offense after struggling early in the season, including Quentin Grimes, who scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting from the field and eight rebounds against New Orleans. Grimes has now scored in double figures in three of Dallas’ last four games, and his defensive intensity has been much more pronounced since he was benched against the Denver Nuggets on November 10th.

Before Tuesday night’s game began, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd took the podium for his pregame press conference, and when asked about it, Kidd went into detail about why Grimes suffered that DNP-CD against Denver.

Kidd gave a cliched answer about Grimes being a true pro and bouncing back well from his absence from the rotation against Denver, but also said Dallas wanted to get a more in-depth look at Hardy in this game.

Hardy had arguably his worst game of the season in this game, going 1-7 from the field and 0-5 from distance in 19 minutes. As previously mentioned, Dallas’ lack of guard effectiveness off the bench was one of their biggest deficiencies early in the season, but it looks like both Grimes and Hardy have now recovered from their slump.

Kidd indicated during the pregame press conference that he believes the Denver game was a big turning point for both Grimes and Hardy, and considering both young guards are playing some of their best basketball of the season on both ends, Seems like Kidd gave them the wake-up call they needed.

Benching Grimes in favor of Hardy was a highly questionable move for many Mavericks fans at the time, but now both are thriving as Dallas’ primary guards on the bench, as Spencer Dinwiddie didn’t even see the field in Dallas’ win against him the pelicans.

Hardy has been far more aggressive of late, using his dribble attempts and clever finishes to open his play beyond the arc rather than forcing rash shots. Grimes has also shot the ball far more efficiently and doesn’t hesitate nearly as often when the opportunity presents itself to attack from the catch or in transition.

Perhaps Hardy’s problems at the start of the season were due to him feeling the pressure of finally getting a more established role for the first time, and Grimes’ problems could easily have been due to the fact that he needed time to adjust to a new place and a to adapt the new system.

Nonetheless, after three straight wins, Kidd finally revealing the reason he benched Grimes makes a lot more sense than if it had happened right after the Denver game, and you have to give him credit for how he did Bank has managed the guard rotation outside of the game so far.