Stats Rundown: 4 numbers from the Mavericks’ win against the Trailblazers

The Portland Trailblazers offered little resistance to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night in Portland. Dallas dominated Portland in the paint on their way to a 132-117 win. Both teams were shorthanded, but Dallas clearly had the more cohesive unit.

38: Dallas’ points in the paint advantage

The Mavericks were able to take advantage of Portland’s lack of interior defense early and often, outscoring them in the paint 68-30. The entire team attacked the basket aggressively and either finished with layups or dished to a Mavs big for a dunk. Dwight Powell caught the ball right at the rim several times, resulting in a season high 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting.

3: The number of 3 pointers for Kristaps Porzingis in the 2nd quarter

Kristaps Porzingis was 1-of-14 from the three point range in the three prior games and his percentage has hovered under 30% for most of the season. Porzingis missed his first three tries in this one before he found the range and hit three straight from deep in the second quarter, helping to spark a huge 17-1 run as the Mavs took control of the game.

This was just a scintillating game from the big man who blocked shots, passed the ball well, made several perfectly timed cuts to the basket, and looked very comfortable scoring from all three levels on his way to an efficient team leading 34 points to go along with nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

10: The number of assists for Josh Green

10! Seriously! 10!

Josh Green has shown a feel for passing the ball in his limited minutes as a Maverick since being taken with the 18th overall pick in 2020. Besides his athleticism, it’s Green’s most obvious tool, and it was on full display in this game. He was a playmaker all night, flashing to the baseline and finding cutters and open shooters on several occasions, including a VERY nifty wrap around to Porzingis for a dunk. He threw long bounce passes on the break and dropped perfect pocket passes out of the pick and roll.

Yes, Portland was shorthanded and aren’t particularly effective on defense anyway, but Green’s passing looks NBA ready. This was his best game as a pro by a mile.

38: The number of Dallas assists

Dallas’ ball movement and off-ball player movement was on point all night. Nearly 77% of their baskets were assisted. It’s the most assists they’ve had in a regular season game since 2014! That is an excellent indication of how sharp the Maverick’s execution was in this game.

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