3 stats from the Mavericks loss against the Wizards

The Dallas Mavericks returned home after a two-week stretch on the road. Dallas struggled to close out the game, losing to the Wizards 114-120.The Mavs had an extra day off to recover from Thanksgiving but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

The numbers behind the loss:

4-5

Kristaps Porzingis midrange field goal percentage in the paint in the first half. To start the game, the Unicorn was busy on the offensive end of the floor, putting up 12 points early. His aggressiveness translated to the defensive end where he picked up 3 steals and 1 block. He showed patience and confidence in the post, picking up a few fouls early in the game that allowed him to get his touch at the line, making it easier to convert in the post in the second quarter.

Unfortunately, that’s where it ended. The Mavericks really needed that offensive boost from Porzingis in the second half. I liked the looks he was getting, he just failed to convert. He’s been on a solid stretch as of late, so hopefully he can pick things back up on Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

68%

The Wizards first quarter field goal percentage. Washington got off to a hot start getting bucket after bucket inside. They struggled from the outside, but Dallas’ interior defense was essentially nonexistent. The Mavericks were able to get things back on track as the game went on, but the lack of defensive intensity is unacceptable. The margin for error will be much smaller come playoff time when they are matched up against bigs like Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, and Deandre Ayton in the playoffs. Washington ended the game with ten turnovers which helped Dallas get some momentum, but in the future Dallas must make interior defense a larger point of emphasis.

56-35

Dallas versus Washington bench production. The Mavs bench came up big with Maxi Kleber and Trey Burke putting up 13 and 14 points, respectively. Sterling Brown and Reggie Bullock also came up big, contributing 15 points collectively with 12 coming from behind the three-point line. Everyone on the bench finished in the positives with the exception of Dwight Powell. Powell finishing as a negative-12 was primarily a result of the poor defensive effort from Dallas as a whole in the first quarter. Dallas’ depth is dangerous, and they continue to show that they can get scoring from several different guys off the bench. If this team can get this level of production from their bench night in and night out, this will be huge for them come playoff time.

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