Dallas Mavericks: Best Backcourt Duo in Team History

The Dallas Mavericks have done it! For the first time since the 2011 season, the Dallas squad has finally won a playoff series. What seems like eternity is now hopefully a step in the right direction for this young squad.

However, none of this would be possible without the contribution and play of stars such as Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson. You see, when Doncic was out for the first three games of the series, Brunson stepped up.

In those three games the young guard averaged 34 points per game and made the defense look restless.

Now with both players in check, Mavs fans can only hope they have something special in store.

Could this be the start of the best duo in Dallas Mavericks history?

They have a legitimate claim to be that group. It is very hard to recall a time when Dallas had two guards averaging twenty points or more.

Some of the great backcourt duos in Mavericks history include: Jason Terry and Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson and Kidd, and Steve Nash with Michael Finley.

During the 2011 season Terry averaged close to 15 points a game, while Kidd had around seven points and eight assists. The veteran point guard was slightly off from a double double. In the playoffs though it wasn’t a different story. Both guards hit more than 40 percent of their threes and increased their point averages by two.

If you compare them to Doncic and Brunson, both guards are actually playing at a higher level.

Another guard duo who blossomed well together were Jim Jackson and Jason Kidd. During the 1995-1996 season the two guards were seen as the team’s next big backcourt. At the time Jackson was averaging 19.6 points, while Kidd had around 16.6 points. Jackson was seen as a dominant perimeter shooter, while Kidd was seen as a double-double machine and a passing wizard. Yet there is one thing that separates this group from Doncic and Brunson: It is that the current young duo has made the playoffs twice compared to Kidd and Jackson.

There is one more backcourt duo that mustn’t get overlooked: Steve Nash and Michael Finley. Together these two formed a big three with Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki.

Their season together was during the 2001 – 2002 season. That year Finley was putting in 20.6 points, while Nash had 17.9 points and 7.7 assists. That same postseason Nash had 19.6 points and Finley dropped in 24.6 points. However, the one edge they have over Doncic and Brunson is that they they won their first playoff series during their second season together.

The one way Doncic and Brunson can define themselves as the top backcourt duo in team history is by winning multiple playoff series.

It will be very hard to let a player who averaged more than 27 points this postseason to walk. Now we can only Marc Cuban and company did not let Brunson walk like they did with Steve Nash.