Stats rundown: 3 numbers to know from the Mavericks humiliating defeat by the Cavaliers

The Dallas Mavericks lost 114-96 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers were utterly dominant to the point that the 18 point margin of victory undersells how much they dominated.

Here are the stats to know.

9: Number of points Kristaps Porzingis scored.

Porzingis had one of the best offensive stretches of his career until the second half against Washington. Tonight was a continuation of that second half as he has now scored 10 points over his last five quarters. Porzingis has done enough that he does not deserve to be bashed after a game and a half slump but the main reason this matters is he was injured in the third quarter.

It did not appear overly serious but the team clearly needs a healthy and rolling Porzingis to make any noise. Get well soon.

2: Number of points the Mavericks outscored the Cavaliers in Moses Brown’s 11 minutes.

This is a perfect reminder of why single game plus minus does not matter. Brown looked lost as he was put in the impossible position of playing the Cavaliers gigantic front line. The team put him in a terrible situation but he was certainly not good and this will hopefully put to bed some claiming Willie Cauley-Stein is solid because of his plus/minus.

7: Number of threes Luka Doncic made in his 11 attempts

Those who read these consistently know I always try to finish with a positive stat and this is about the only one. Doncic did not play as well as his triple double stat line coupled with this impressive shooting would have you believe. He struggled defensively and refused to close out on multiple open shooters. But there is enough evidence that when Luka is making jumpers he is unstoppable offensively. That makes this the one positive the Mavericks can take away from this destruction as it appears he is finding his shooting stroke.

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