Thorough, workmanlike, professional
The Dallas Mavericks (19-10) improved to 2-1 on this four-game home stand with a rather convincing 132-108 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Luka Doncic returned from his two game absence and largely looked solid, albeit unspectacular. Daniel Gafford absolutely roasted the Portland big men combination on Deandre Ayton and Connecticut rookie Donovan Clingan. Vibes are good, and so are these piping hot stats.
+17: Mavericks scoring margin in the 3rd quarter
This tied the high water mark for the Mavs in a third quarter, per the MavsTV broadcast. After carrying just a nine point lead into the second half, Dallas dropped a 40 point haymaker coming out of the locker room to put proper distance between themselves and the Blazers. Obviously the 40 point outburst is the headliner here, but the 23 points given up shouldn’t be overlooked, either. Last time these two matched up, Anfernee Simons had 24 points on his own in the third period. Tonight, Portland couldn’t get to that number as a group. Hat tip to the Mavs for the professional effort there.
23: Daniel Gafford points
What an incredible night by Mr. Gafford, who continued the trend of Mavs bench scorers going absolutely bananas. After 20 points on just eight shots from Quentin Grimes against the Clippers on Saturday, Gafford got to 23 on just seven shots tonight. Buoyed by four and-one’s, he was able to get to the line for a career high 14 times. Job well done by Gafford.
2,558: Klay Thompson’s career 3 point makes
After a 3-of-8 night from behind the long line, Klay Thompson finds himself at exactly 2,558 makes from deep in his career. Why is that number significant? Reggie Miller is fifth on the NBA’s all time three point makes list at 2,560, which puts Klay just two behind Reggie. I’d expect the Mavs to work hard to get him to that benchmark on Christmas Day against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
80: Mavericks paint field goal percentage
Fun fact, the Mavs went 32-of-40 in the paint tonight, which set the league high for paint field goal percentage in a game this season! This passed the New York Knicks previous mark of just over 77%, which was set against the Denver Nuggets. Not a bad night in the office by everyone involved!
30: Most minutes played by a Dallas Maverick
Probably the best part of blowout winners are the minutes staying low. The high mark of 30 tonight was courtesy of Luka Doncic, who probably received the extra work due to missing about the last week and a half. The rest of the starters? Kyrie played 28, Klay just 18, PJ only 24 and Lively with just 16. The Mavs will be rested and ready to go for the Christmas afternoon tilt against Minnesota.