Dallas Mavericks: Three things that should scare the team

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ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 24: DeAndre Jordan #6 of the Dallas Mavericks reacts to a play during the game against the Atlanta Hawks on October 24, 2018 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Happy Halloween, Dallas Mavericks fans. Seeing as it is the spookiest day of the year, it seems fitting that we should talk about the things that should really scare Mavs fans this season.

The way we like to cover the Dallas Mavericks here usually comes with a positive spin on what is going on. Although it is important to present the facts and to point out a negative when it’s clear, that does not change the fact that we prefer optimism over pessimism.

On Halloween, people dress up and like to scare others. Although it is generally done in good fun, there is no doubt that some things really are scary. The Mavs, despite how things have looked, do have some major concerns for the team this season. Some of these concerns should scare Mavs fans.

Let’s take a look at a few of the things that the Mavs are doing or are not doing that could really hurt the team during this exciting season.

Free Throw Shooting

The Mavs have had a tough go at the free throw line so far this year. In fact, if the Mavs keep up with their current free throw shooting at 74.9% from the line, it will be the worst performance by a Mavs team at the line since the 1998-99 season, where Dallas went 19-31 on the year.

Perhaps the most astonishing part about this lackluster performance at the charity stripe is that DeAndre Jordan is one of the guys bringing the percentage up instead of down like it has been for the rest of his career. DJ is currently shooting 81.3% from the free throw line on 32 total attempts from the line.

The only players higher than him currently are Jalen Brunson (2-2, 100%), Dorian Finney-Smith (5-6, 83.3%) and Wesley Matthews (22-27, 81.5%). Jordan is 26-32 on the season so far. Dwight Powell has hit 16-20, Dennis Smith Jr. 12-16 and Luka Doncic 24-33. Luka was about an 80% free throw shooter while overseas.

There are a lot of factors that could be contributing to the Mavericks missing so many free throws, but my best guess is youth worrying too much about other things that they aren’t hitting the easy shots. This could and should change, for better or worse.

No matter what happens with the free throw shooting going forward, this DeAndre Jordan shooting clinic he has been putting on is pretty unbelievable. His previous best in free throw shooting for a season was 58% and his career average is below 45%. This year looks like it should bring that number up quite a bit.

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