Stats Rundown: 3 stats to know from the Mavericks 132-130 loss to the Hawks

The Dallas Mavericks lost 132-130 to the Atlanta Hawks in overtime. The Mavericks did not shoot well, going 10-of-38 from three-point range, but 130 points was enough to win. Except, due to the Mavericks putrid defense, it wasn’t enough to win. This story is beginning to feel like a Beauty and the Beast song with the Mavericks offense being the Beauty and the defense being the Beast. Mavericks score enough to win comfortably for most teams but give up enough to still lose is becoming a “tale as old as time.”

Here are the stats to know.

41: Points scored by Kyrie Irving

Irving was brilliant offensively which was needed due to Luka Doncic having a subpar game by his lofty standards. This shows the immense promise of the pairing. Doncic does not have to be brilliant every night because he has a costar who can also carry the load. But alas this effort was undone by the Mavericks poor defense.

Fortunately, any stat of 41 is a good excuse to remember better times of Mavericks fandom. Dirk Nowitzki has been elected to the NBA Hall of Fame as he deserves. Any excuse to remember the “Tall Baller from the G” will always bring a smile to my face.

7: Number of Hawks players with at least 13 points

The Hawks are a good offensive team. They have the seventh best offensive rating in the league this season. Thus, it should be unsurprising that they torched the Mavericks’ defense. It has often been said that the best defensive coaches take away what the other teams do best. The Mavericks have attempted to do so in a completely unconventional way. Instead of making the opponents best option work incredibly hard, the Mavericks simply make the game so easy for all the other options that there is no need for a team to spam there best plays. It is a truly revolutionary approach.

20: Points the Mavericks were outscored by during Maxi Kleber’s 8 minutes

This is not fair to Kleber. He is still a solid defender. The problem is, the Mavericks rely on him to do a Bam Adebayo impersonation. He simply is not that caliber of player. Kleber has slipped some on defense this season, but he is still the best defender on the team. Unfortunately, it is not enough to cover up the problems the rest of the team has on that end. The Mavericks have to come to that realization this offseason. Kleber can still help the team. He simply cannot be a defensive panacea.

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