The Smoking Cuban
FanSided

By the Numbers: Mavericks Drop Series Opener

By Jay Knodell

facebooktwitterreddit

The Dallas Mavericks couldn’t overcome poor shooting, shoddy defense, and sloppy turnovers in the opening game of their intrastate series against the rival Houston Rockets and fell, 118-108.

The Mavericks got off to a terrible start, getting down early and trailing at the end of the first quarter 32-19 after shooting 30% from the field and committing six turnovers.

A strong second quarter spearheaded by the hot shooting of Dirk Nowitzki and Rajon Rondo got Dallas back into the game, but they were outplayed almost all game and just couldn’t get timely buckets or stops.

Let’s take a look at some of the standout numbers from the disappointing loss.

45: Free throws were always going to play a big role in this series, but I don’t think anyone expected it to be like this. Houston shot 45 free throws compared to Dallas’ 17. To be fair, the Mavericks did a lot of intentional fouling down the stretch in an attempt to extend the game. But still.

I mean, James Harden had as many attempts as the entire Mavericks roster.

The Mavericks are going to have to do a better job containing the dribble drive. Their problems in that area contributed greatly to Houston’s game-long residence at the charity stripe – and a whole lot of lobs, too.

31: Ex-Mavericks Jason Terry and Corey Brewer killed the Mavericks, combining for 31 points and 7 three-pointers. Brewer was especially devastating in the final frame. He hit a trio of three-pointers, two at the end of the shot clock that served as proverbial gut punches.


17: Dwight Howard battled foul trouble all night, and because of this played only 17 minutes. It’s too bad the Mavericks couldn’t take advantage of his limited action and get the win because he was dominant when he was on the floor. He absolutely locked down the paint, collecting 5 blocks along the way. And Houston was able to find him for easy buckets at the rim when Tyson Chandler was forced to stray towards rogue ball handlers.

He’ll be a problem for the remainder of the series, and Dallas can’t count on him being chained to the bench with foul trouble every time out.

17 Part 2: The Mavericks were downright careless with the ball tonight, coughing it up 17 times. Dirk Nowitzki was the most egregious offender, throwing sloppy passes and turning the ball over 6 times. Can’t give a team like the Rockets a chance to get out and run, especially when you’re a team that struggles with transition defense.

27.9%: Monta Ellis, Chandler Parsons, and Amar’e Stoudemire combined to shoot 12-43 from the field. That’s 27.9%. I’ll just leave it at that.

The Mavericks need to regroup and make some adjustments. Houston is putting Dirk in pick-and-roll situations defensively as much as humanly possible because it works. Something has to be done about that, among other things. They’ll have three days to get things figured out with Game 2 coming Tuesday night.

Next: Mavericks Playoff Headquarters

More from The Smoking Cuban

Home/Mavs News