To steal a line from the commercials about Las Vegas, the Mavericks and their fans certainly hope what happens at American Airlines Center stays at American Airlines Center.
They really don’t want it following them on the road.
Their six-game home stand – longest of the season – is history and the Mavericks ended with a pedestrian 3-3 record. It just doesn’t get more average than that.
So how did they get there? It’s not rocket science.
The numbers clearly showed that the Mavericks didn’t deserve anything better than what they got during their 11-day stay at AAC. Here, we’ll take a closer look.
First, the good news: The Mavericks averaged 115 points per game and only gave up 111.8 during the six games. Pretty much all of that differential can be traced to the 18-point win over Philadelphia in the finale of the home stand.
Beyond that, the numbers scream out that the Mavericks were utterly average on the home stand.
Rebounding: The Mavericks averaged 44.8 rebounds per game. Their opponents averaged 45.3 boards. That doesn’t sound like much, but for a team that has by and large been good at retrieving missed shots most of the season, it wasn’t good enough.
Defense: They only forced 9.8 turnovers per game on the home stand. That’s a ridiculously low number. That’s also part of the reason why opponents averaged 91 field-goal attempts per game to 87.5 for the Mavericks. Anyway you slice it, that’s 3.5 more chances to score points for the other team. Opponents also were basically even at the free-throw line with the Mavericks.
Free-throw shooting. The Mavericks were 72.3 percent from the line. They shot more free throws than their six opponents, but made less. That’s a lot of free points left on the table.
When you add it up, it was a .500-worthy effort on the home stand.
On the bright side, the Mavericks at least finished it with a solid win against Philadelphia. That creates a smidge of momentum that they can take with them to Golden State on Tuesday and Sacramento on Wednesday.
The Mavericks were about as good as they’ve been all season in a 68-41 second half against the Sixers.
“When our guys with that kind of force, our crowd is a different kind of crowd,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We got great fans, but when we play with this kind of force, our fans take it to another level and it makes it a lot harder on opponents.”
And, considering Kristaps Porzingis did not play on the home stand (it’s possible, Carlisle said, he could return on the road trip), the Mavericks at the least were able to tread water.
“Real proud of the guys for hanging in,” Carlisle said. “This has been a very difficult, challenging stretch for a lot of reasons – the frequency of the games, the level of the opponents, some of the losses have been very close and difficult. And after last night, it’s easy to get down. But guys hung in.”
The Mavericks have been better on the road all season than they’ve been at AAC. With nine of their next 11 games on the road, they hope they can make a charge during the upcoming stretch.
Twitter: @ESefko
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