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The Dallas Mavericks are above .500 again, rebounding for a two-game winning streak, the latest 122-117 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
It was an interesting game where the Mavericks looked like drummers of the world for 40 minutes, a lottery team for about seven, then a contender in the last minute. Things definitely got a little hairy in the dying moments, but the Mavericks got the saves and marks to cross the finish line. Here are the important numbers of the victory.
5: Turnover for non-conformists
Dallas only returned the ball five times against San Antonio, a low level this season and matching last season.
Luka Doncic was the only Maverick with at least two turnovers, while three other Mavericks only had one piece. That was a big reason the Mavericks both managed to forge a big lead early on and stay afloat in the second half. Dallas ‘offense sometimes dried up in the fourth quarter, but we owe it to the Mavericks for not being sloppy and for fueling the Spurs’ transition offense. If the Mavericks were more reckless with the ball, it’s probably a loss for the Mavs.
90: Mavericks team free throw percentage
The Mavericks have struggled from the line all season, placing in the bottom half of the league entering Friday night. It was a good sign to see Dallas finish the night 18 of 20 against San Antonio, especially in a close game.
That marks back-to-back quality free-shooting games for the Mavericks, who shot 82.4 percent against the Pacers on Wednesday. This is the first time the Mavericks have played back-to-back games over 80% on the charity strip.
Kudos to Wes Iwundu in particular, who made the last two free throws to win the game with the Mavericks three with two seconds left. Spurs had a time out and might have had a chance to equalize if Iwundu hadn’t done at least one and he ended up doing both. It was good to see, especially after missing a clutch pointer three minutes earlier.
56.4: Luka Doncic’s shooting percentage on mid-range jumpers
I steal this one from our staff member Hank, who noted that Doncic is now tied with Stephen Curry for third place in the league in percentage on mid-range shots for all players who have attempted over 35. shots in this range. Pretty good!
Doncic showed his improvement in mid-range play against Spurs, mixing it up with some calm backs and a few smooth bank shots. It was a bank shot against LaMarcus Aldridge in the last minute that helped seal the victory.
We all know three is greater than two and mid-range shots aren’t necessarily the best, but it’s great to see Doncic diversify his score so that he’s not so a note when the defense tightens. . That turnaround against Aldridge was a sight to behold when you think about how that possession could have ended for the Mavericks last season (a bad step backwards probably three). So learning a new trick is fun.
50: Kristaps Porzingis’ percentage on post-up shots against Spurs
San Antonio played the game and dared Kristaps Porzingis to beat them at the post, putting a little on Porzingis instead of keeping him with Aldridge or Jakob Poeltl. Spurs were betting on Porzingis’ poor numbers from last season and Porzingis torched them.
Porzingis shot 3 of 6 at the post against Spurs, doing well with nice no-dribbling turns and smooth errors. The less dribbling for Porzingis is the better and he made his moves at post against the smaller Spurs defenders without a bunch of unnecessary moves. He was sure of himself and confident.
For the season, Porzingis is now turning 10 out of 20 on post-ups, a much larger number than a season ago, although it’s still very early days. The key for Porzingis using the position seems to be as long as it fits into the flow of the Mavericks’ attack, against a smaller defender with Porzingis wasting no time. He looked good against Spurs, scoring 21 points on 14 shots.
Here is the post-match podcast, Mavs Moneyball After Dark. If you can’t see the integration below “More Mavs Moneyball”, click here. And if you haven’t already, subscribe by searching for “Mavs Moneyball podcast” in your favorite podcast app.
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