Josh Green has seen his minutes increase since December, and his play has reflected that as well. On Saturday, Green scored 17 points in the Mavs' 130-106 win over the Rockets, setting a new career-high.
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During his rookie campaign, Green averaged just 2.6 points and 2.0 rebounds in 39 games, with minutes hard to come by on a Mavericks team eyeing playoff success plying under coach Rick Carlisle.
This season, however, the Mavs have a new coach in Jason Kidd, who spoke in pre-season how important development was to guys like Green.
"We feel that, with a little hard work and some fun, we can get a Josh Green to the next level; that’s why we’re here," Kidd said at his introductory press conference. "We’re here to help develop. It’ll be fun but everybody has to do their part and it starts with hard work."
So far this season, the young Australian, who just turned 21 in November last year, has found himself playing in more meaningful minutes on-court.
"I think the best thing for development is playing and I've been lucky enough to get an opportunity and I'm making the most of it," he said after the game against Houston. "I want to win the game. If that means I score zero points or 17 points like I just did tonight, I just want to come out with the win."
"I want to win the game. If that means I score 0 points or 17 points like I just did, I just want to win." @dallasmavs | #MFFL | @JoshBGreen pic.twitter.com/aXIaVa47uR
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) January 8, 2022
Green has been earning more minutes because, according to Kidd, he's got the best plus/minus on the team. Green leads the team at plus-76, followed by Frank Ntilikina at plus-73 and Brunson at plus-63.
“He’s been great for us," Kidd has said. "His plus/minus is the best on the team. So we got to figure out how he can be on the floor more to have that positive impact.”
Overall, Dallas has a 96.3 defensive rating with Green on the floor, the best among Dallas rotation players. They have a 111.0 offensive rating with Green on-court, the best among rotation players.
"Over the last month I think we've really seen, our team, we have each other's back," Green says about Dallas' improved defensive outings. "If somebody's taking the ball to the hoop, there's always gonna be help. We're starting to get a real feel for each other. It's our first year with a new coach, and I feel like we're really starting to get momentum and taking big strides on the defensive end."
.@JoshBGreen appreciation post.@AcmeBrick | #MFFL pic.twitter.com/6ggkkCULRB
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) January 8, 2022
Green has averaged 6.6 points in about 20 minutes per game over the last seven outings for the Mavs.
Impressively, Dallas is 6-1 in that timeframe and is now on a five-game winning streak that has seen them get to the fifth seed in the West at 21-18 on the season.
"Josh has worked extremely hard,” Kidd said. “He’s been patient and he’s shown that he deserves some minutes. I don’t think those minutes are going to go down. I think we got to figure out how to get him some more minutes out there."
