Woes on defense might be all talk MAVERICKS
"He can't be on our case all season long; that just kind of wears on you over the long season. It's time for players to step up and talk about what they see out there."
The subject was defense -- precisely, the 102.2-point average the Mavericks allowed in the past five games.
Coach Avery Johnson quickly made it a lesson in defensive communication -- specifically, the lack of it on the court.
During their current three-game losing streak to Indiana, Milwaukee and Washington, the Mavs have surrendered 44.7 points per game in the paint and the Bucks and Wizards each shot better than 50 percent.
Entering Tuesday, the 102.2 points a game ranked in the bottom seven in the league over each team's past five games. Read more