Midseason stats rundown: 6 numbers from the Dallas Mavericks’ season

The Dallas Mavericks are a little more than halfway through this season and some trends are coming into focus. Here are some of the stats that explain why the Mavericks are winning and losing games this season. Have your own interesting stats? Drop them in the comments below.

35.7%: What Dallas is shooting on 3-pointers

Dallas takes the third most 3-pointers per game at 40.2 attempts. The problem is they’re completely average at hitting those shots. They’re sitting at 15th in the NBA in 3-point percentage. It’s why they can look like absolute world-beaters at times and a lottery team at others. If the Mavericks are going to continue to pursue a strategy that involves Luka Doncic being the center of the offense and delivering open shots to his teammates, they should start looking for better shooters.

11.9: Turnovers per game by the Mavericks

Dallas isn’t sloppy with the ball. They commit the second-fewest turnovers in the NBA. Only the Toronto Raptors turn the ball over less, and barely, at 11.7 per game. This is a trend that goes back more than a decade. Jason Kidd learned well from Rick Carlisle and the Mavericks protect the ball like their lives depend on it. The sacrifice they make to do this is playing at a plodding pace—only the Cleveland Cavaliers have less possessions per game. But protecting the ball this way means they rarely beat themselves.

26.1: Free throw attempts per game by Dallas

The Mavericks live at the line. They’re third in the NBA at free throw attempts. But similar to their 3-point shooting woes, they have trouble hitting their shots from the charity stripe. Dallas only hits 74.7 percent of their free throws. That’s 27th in the NBA. They’ve lost several games this season due to missing crucial shots at the line. It’s something they’ve got figure out before the playoffs.

12.7: The percentage of possessions by the Mavericks that are isolations

The Mavericks aren’t exactly the Beautiful Game Spurs from 2014, whipping the ball around the court and getting the perfect shot. They lead the NBA in isolations this year. The good thing is they excel at scoring out of isolations. They’re third in the league with 1.03 points per possession when they iso opponents. The majority of those plays coming from Doncic probably helps. He’s elite at attacking opponents one-on-one.

41.8: The number of points in the paint per game by Dallas

The Mavericks are last in the league at scoring in the paint. Doncic used to be elite at getting to the basket, but with the Dallas shooters not being able to convert from behind the arc like they did last season, defenses are focusing exclusively on Doncic, making it hard for him to get to the rim as he did in the past. Kidd and the coaching staff need to find a way to manufacture some shots in the paint and not be so reliant on 3-pointers.

31.2%: The Mavericks’ 3-point shooting percentage in clutch situations

For a team that’s built to shoot 3-pointers, the Mavericks don’t hit them during clutch games. As a reminder, the NBA defines clutch situations as any game time when there are five or fewer minutes remaining and the scoring margin is five points or less. Dallas is currently 17th in the NBA in 3-point shooting in these situations. As mentioned above, they’ve got to find better shooters to knock down the open shots Doncic creates.