Dallas Mavericks: Three things that should scare the team

Three Point Percentage/Defense

The Dallas Mavericks are struggling a lot when the game is being played behind the three-point line. In fact, there are really no teams in the league that struggle more both hitting threes and defending threes from the other team. Let’s look at the numbers and determine just how much of an impact this is having on the Mavs team this year.

Dallas is currently averaging the 4th most three-point attempts per game in the NBA with 37.4. The only teams averaging more than Dallas are the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks. The Mavericks are also 7th in three-pointers made per game at 12.1. That wouldn’t sound too bad normally, but that actually is a big difference.

Dallas is 25th in the NBA in three-point percentage in the league at 32.4%. The only teams shooting the three at a lower percentage are the Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately, the Mavs haven’t had a chance to play any of these teams yet.

Now, if you think these numbers don’t look too good for the Mavericks, just wait until you see their defensive numbers. Through seven games, the Dallas Mavericks have held one opponent under 40% from the three-point line in the Atlanta Hawks. Of the other six, half were over 40% and half over 50%.

The Mavs are allowing an average of almost 47% three-point shooting from their opponents this year. There have been some really good shooting expos from a lot of these guys but at some point, if it looks like a horse, sounds like a horse and smells like a horse, well…it probably is. The Mavs perimeter defense is just really, really bad.