Stats rundown: 3 stats from a Dallas Mavericks loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, 112-98

The Dallas Mavericks fell to the LA Clippers 112-98 as the Clippers take the season series against the Mavericks.

Dallas looked solid at times, at one point building a 10-point lead, but after a back and forth game that had both teams tied at 79 heading to the fourth quarter, everything fell apart.

4: Number of assists by Luka Doncic… and turnovers

This was not a marquee game for Luka Doncic. (A shame for Slovenians, who got this re-scheduled early game in prime time.) His 9-of-21 shooting day was one thing; players have off games – even ones as reliable as the NBA’s leading scorer.

However, with how well Doncic typically feels the game, a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio was the more troubling stat. And for an offense that, by design, flows from Doncic down to the rest of the team, a sloppy game from him meant a sloppy offense all around.

96.8 percent: Clippers shot 30-of-31 from the free-throw line

The Clippers fought the law of averages… and won.

Typically, they’re one of the league’s poorer free throw shooting teams, managing just 76 percent from the line this season. (That’s below the league average of 78 percent.) Today, in an afternoon game where both offenses seemed a little sluggish and sloppy, the advantage at the line that Los Angeles built made a big difference in a close game.

Dallas, for their part, had another ugly game from the charity stripe, leaving vital points on the board after going just 15-of-26, an ugly 57.7 percent. It’s not the first time this season Dallas has doomed itself with mediocre free throws.

2: Corner threes hit by Dallas

Moreyball acolytes are putting this game in the Hangar 51 warehouse the arc of the covenant so no one will ever find it.

Dallas had a putrid game not just from the most coveted spot on the floor - the corners - where they went 2-of-10, they also failed to convert at a high rate when they got to the bucket. Dallas managed just 18-of-35 in the paint. A decent percentage when you’re hitting your outside shots, but not enough when you’re stinking it up from the free throw line. Dallas actually shot best from above the break, going 11-of-25, but their struggles elsewhere saw them fail to crack 100 points for the game.

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