The Mavericks took down the Clippers through a tremendous team effort.
The Dallas Mavericks got back in the win column Saturday night, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 113-97 and tying the head-to-head record at one apiece while Luka Doncic was in street clothes once again. Quentin Grimes led the Mavericks with 20 points. Norman Powell led all scorers with 28 on the night.
Here are some important numbers:
24%: Kyrie’s field goal percentage
The last time Kyrie shot below 50 percent in a game was December 3rd against the Memphis Grizzlies. He’s been consistent to a fault for the most of the season, but that just makes this showing sting a bit more.
He was especially cold in the first half, shooting 16.7 percent from the floor and 20 percent from three. It didn’t matter too much in this game, though. Other people stepped up to make this a ballgame. Which leads us to our next stat:
14: Points Grimes scored in the 4th quarter
Grimes didn’t do much before the 4th quarter. He made good plays and didn’t make mistakes. Then the 4th quarter started, and he went on a heater.
This effectually put the game out of reach. The Mavericks had a lead of eight going into the fourth quarter, and rather than letting the Clippers back into it, Grimes kept them at a distance, going 4/4 from the field and making all three of his attempts from distance.
12: Mavericks’ steals
A few of the steals the Mavs got were simply unforced errors by their opponent. Regardless, Dallas played amazing defense, kept the Clippers to double digits (97), and disrupted passing lanes, causing them to get 12 steals on the way to a win.
Every one played really well on the defensive end, though the names that stand out are Klay Thompson with four steals, Dinwiddie with three steals, and Dereck Lively with two steals. Either way, it was a team effort that made this happen.
86.4%: The free throw percentage the Mavericks had
This was really promising to see. Their average free throw percentage isn’t bad, and they have shot really well at times, both at the stripe and otherwise. However, this is really good. Everyone made their freebies count, and the scoreboard shows that.
4: Lively’s stocks
Lively was active all over the place today. His presence was most felt on the defensive end, however. He was everywhere, played smart defense, and rotated to help without any faults or missteps. The most important thing is that he was heavily impactful against Zubac, who only scored 13 this game, after dropping 21 the last time he played. He made all the right plays, and it showed today.
Bonus stat: 50% – Naji’s 3-point percentage on his last 32 attempts
Naji didn’t start out the year shooting that great. Specifically, shooting 4-of-30 from deep. Since then, he’s tightened up his shot, and hasn’t looked back since. He went 2-of-3 from behind the arc today, and his accuracy peaking up around the time the Mavericks started to go on their run isn’t a complete coincidence. He’s shot the rock confidently, and its been a huge boon over this period of time.
You can listen to our latest podcast episode in the player embedded below, and to make sure you don’t miss a single one moving forward, subscribe to the Pod Maverick podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Pocketcasts, YouTube, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox.
You can check out our After Dark Recap podcasts, YouTube Live recordings, and guest shows on the Pod Maverick Podcast feed. Please subscribe, rate, and review.