Should fans be worried about Mavericks clutch woes?

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The Dallas Mavericks were down by 11 in the third quarter against the Orlando Magic on Jan. 30 before storming back to grab a four-point lead with 5:16 left. It appeared that Luka Doncic was going to lift Dallas to a victory on the second night of a back-to-back with a 34-point triple-double, but the Mavs faltered in crunch time.

They scored just two points and missed all nine of their field goal attempts in the final five minutes in their 110-108 loss to the rebuilding Magic. Doncic took just one shot down the stretch as Orlando forced the ball out of his hands with double teams.

Mavericks fans have seen this movie before. The team failed to hit shots down the stretch in a close loss. Should they be worried about the team’s clutch time woes?

Should fans be worried about the Dallas Mavericks' clutch woes?

All nine of the team’s field goals were open looks, and they got four free throws. The shots just did not fall, and Dallas only made two at the foul line. Coach Kidd was happy about the attempts in his postgame interview.

Jason Kidd loved Luka's late decision-making and vision vs. Magic:

"He did everything right. That’s what champions do, and that’s what leaders do. They have trust their teammates are going to make the right play. ... Unfortunately we weren’t able to make one of those eight 3s.”
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) January 31, 2022

The team attempted eight 3-pointers in the final five minutes and missed every one. Those were the open looks, but the Mavs are shooting just 23.7 percent from 3-point range in clutch situations, according to NBA Stats.

Dallas sunk to 9-13 in games that have clutch situations, which gives them the 22nd best winning percentage in the league. Should fans be worried about the Dallas Mavericks' struggles in clutch time?

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