The Mavericks’ rally fell flat late.
The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Orlando Magic Sunday night, losing 110-108. The loss drops the Mavericks’ record to 29-22. The loss makes the Mavericks 6-4 on the second night of a back-to-back for the season.
Luka Doncic led all scorers with 34 points, to go along with 12 rebounds and 11 assists. It’s his 43rd triple-double of his career, tying him with Fat Lever for 10th all-time. Marquese Chriss chipped in 14 points from the bench. Chuma Okeke led the Magic with 19 points coming off the bench. Franz Wagner led all Magic starters with 18.
Here are three numbers from the game:
18: The number of turnovers committed by the Mavericks
Yesterday against the Indiana Pacers, the Mavericks only turned the ball over five times. I specifically said they hardly ever beat themselves. Well, tonight was one of those times. They coughed the ball up 18 times, which is odd for the team with the least amount of turnovers per game in the NBA. But they were on the second night of a back-to-back, and on their fourth game in six days. When you’re tired, you make mistakes. Hopefully with some rest they’ll get back to protecting the rock.
26: The number of points the Magic had off of turnovers
When you turn the ball over a ton and your opponent capitalizes on those mistakes, you’re more than likely going to lose. That’s what happened to the Mavericks tonight. Dallas has played good defense the last month, but the defense never gets a chance to set up if the other team is always on the run off of a turnover. Again, the Mavericks played like an exhausted team tonight, and the stats show it.
16: The amount Dallas was outscored in the second quarter
The Mavericks actually controlled most of this game. They won the first, third, and fourth quarter by a combined 14 points. Unfortunately the Magic went scorched earth in the second quarter and outscored the Mavericks by 16. They also outscored Dallas by six points in the final 5:41 of the game. Last year, the Mavericks often didn’t play complete games against inferior teams. This year, they’ve mostly corrected that issue. Tonight it came roaring back to bite them.
Here’s our latest episode of Mavs Moneyball After Dark. If you’re unable to see the embed below, click here to be taken to the podcast directly. Or go to your favorite podcast app and search Mavs Moneyball Podcast.