Stats rundown: 3 numbers from a Dallas Mavericks loss to the Detroit Pistons, 131-125

Dec 2, 2022 - 5:30 AM

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The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Detroit Pistons in overtime Thursday night, 131-125. The loss brought the Mavericks record to 10-11, and the team sits at 11th in the Western Conference. The Pistons are now 6-18, 14th in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons have the third worst record in the NBA.

Luka Doncic led all scorers with 35 points, while also dishing out 10 assists. Christian Wood chipped in 25 points off the bench. Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 30 points. Killian Hayes scored 22 points and handed out eight assists.

Here are three numbers from the game:

Minus-22: The Mavericks’ rebounding deficit

Dallas is a bad rebounding team, and while team rebounding numbers can be deceptive at times, the lack of attention on the glass showed up big tonight. They’re 24th in the league in rebounding, and looked every bit that bad against Detroit. The Mavericks were crushed on the boards. The Pistons outrebounded them 52-30. That led to a 17-11 advantage in second-chance points. It’s hard to win games when you are beaten that soundly in rebounding.

48: The Mavericks percentage at the free throw line

Dallas is filled with guys who can (allegedly) shoot well from deep. Yet they can’t seem to hit their free throws, which is a huge liability for a team that plays so many close games. Coming into tonight, they’ve shot 70 percent from the charity stripe in the last 11 games. The Mavericks are 26th in the NBA in free throw percentage. They’re fourth in the league in free throw attempts. That means they’re leaving a lot of points off the board every game, and as a team hovering around .500, they need every point they can get. Dallas missed 15 free throws in a game they lost by six.

33: The number of shots Dallas allowed at the rim

The Mavericks typically work to deny opponents shots at the rim. They’re fifth in the NBA in shots allowed at the rim at 26.4 per game, but tonight, they gave up 33. That led to a 54-44 Detroit advantage on points in the paint. Giving up easy baskets at the rim is how you let a bad team beat you.

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