41 facts to know before the Dallas Mavericks season

The Dallas Mavericks’ season is about to begin. It comes with high hopes, and there are many reasons to believe that those hopes will be fulfilled. Before things kick off, here are a few random facts to know:

1. The Mavericks had seven different five-man lineups that logged at least 40 minutes of playing time during the playoffs last season.
2. Of those seven lineups, the lineup with the highest net rating returns to the team intact. Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber played 59 minutes with a net rating of +27.1.
3. In his final 44 games after coming back from an ankle injury, and getting into shape, Luka Doncic averaged 29.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game on 46.1 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from three and 75.9 percent from the free throw line. He is in shape to start this season.
4. Spencer Dinwiddie made 82 of his 200 three point attempts after being acquired by the Mavericks, including both the regular season and the playoffs.
5. Tim Hardaway Jr. made 411 threes in 141 games during the two seasons before last year. He shot 39.4 percent on those threes. For a team that loves to shoot as much as the Mavericks this is potentially a huge return.
6. Kristaps Porzingis shot 28.3 percent on 5.1 threes per game while in Dallas last season.
7. Christian Wood shot 39.0 percent on 4.9 threes per game last season.
8. Reggie Bullock is a career 38.5 percent 3-point shooter.
9. Dorian Finney-Smith has shot 39.5 percent on threes over the last two seasons.
10. Maxi Kleber has shot 36.8 on threes over the last three seasons. The Mavericks have relied on Doncic to create shots so good that middling shooters will make them over the last few seasons. They have finally created an excellent cast of shooters around Doncic and the offensive results could be explosive.
11. Spencer Dinwiddie averaged 2.9 isolation attempts per game with the Mavericks.
12. Dinwiddie averaged 1.15 points per play on those isolations
13. No one in the NBA was more efficient on more than 1.8 attempts per game.
14. Doncic averaged 6.3 isolation attempts per game.
15. He averaged 1.11 points per play on those isolations.
16. DeMar DeRozan was the only player to average more points per play than Doncic on at least three isolations per game. He did so on 4.3 isolations per game.
17. Dwight Powell was in the 92.6 percentile as a roll man last season, averaging 1.42 points per play.
18. Javale McGee was in the 89.5 percentile as a roll man averaged 1.40 points per play.
19. Kristaps Porzingis posted up four times per game in Dallas.
20. He was in the 37.3 percentile averaging 0.89 points per play on those attempts.
21. Christian Wood posted up 1.6 times per game.
22. He was in the 56.8 percentile averaging 0.95 points per play on those attempts.
23. Spencer Dinwiddie had 2.8 spot up attempts per game with Dallas.
24. He ranked in the 98.4 percentile scoring 1.42 points per play on those attempts.
25. Davis Bertans was in the 90.1 percentile defending isolations on .5 attempts per game last season.
26. During the playoffs, the Mavericks shot 56.1 percent at the rim with Doncic off the court.
27. The Mavericks shot 73.7 percent at the rim with Doncic on the court in the playoffs. For all the deserved praise that Doncic’s ability to create open three point looks receives, his ability to get to the rim himself and get others open layups or dunks is his best offensive skill.
28. The Mavericks true shooting percentage with Doncic on the court in the playoffs was 59.0 percent.
29. The Mavericks true shooting percentage with Doncic off the court was 56.8 percent.
30. The Mavericks were just over nine points per possession better with Doncic on the court than off the court during the playoffs. The job of being competitive in the minutes Doncic sits will not be any easier after losing Jalen Brunson.
31. The Mavericks were only .56 points per possession better with Brunson on the floor than off during the playoffs. He was a very good player, but he was not a game changer.
32. Bullock shot 39.7 percent on 7.3 three point attempts per game during the playoffs. He often gets off to slow starts, but he is a very good shooter and can be counted on in the most important moments.
33. Josh Green played 445 minutes his rookie season with a 49.0 true shooting percentage.
34. Green played 1039 minutes last year with a 57.8 true shooting percentage. It might not be as fast as we would like, but Green is developing.
35. Mavericks opponents were dead last in made threes during the regular season at 10.9 made threes per game.
36. Mavericks opponents were second to last in points scored per game. Some of this is due to the Mavericks very deliberate pace, but the Mavericks defense was very fundamentally sound which led to
37. The Mavericks were sixth in the league in defensive rating last season.
38. The Milwaukee Bucks improved from last in the league defensively the season before hiring Jason Kidd, to fourth in the league defensively the season they hired him.
39. They fell back to 23rd and 19th respectively in his second and third seasons in Milwaukee. I believe in the Mavericks defense but there is a history of regression under Kidd.
40. Dwight Powell was the only Maverick to play all 82 games last season.
41. There have been five seasons in NBA history where a player averaged at least 25 points per game and less than two turnovers per game. Dirk Nowitzki had four of them.