Things are not looking good in Dallas. Injuries continue to pile up as we learned early Wednesday that Dereck Lively II is expected to miss 2-3 months — potentially ending his regular season — with a foot fracture. This comes as the team is already without franchise star Luka Dončić until at least the end of January and key rotation players like Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall rack up DNPs to illness and nagging injuries.
Add all of that up and Wednesday’s 115-114 loss to the Timberwolves was Dallas’ fifth defeat in its last six games. The Mavericks have dropped to eighth in the West and may be ninth by the end of the night as ninth-seeded Sacramento, 22-20, could hop both Minnesota and Dallas, both 23-21, with a win over the Warriors.
Here are five stats that stood out from another close loss.
36: Kyrie Irving’s point total
Irving continued to show that he loves playing against the Timberwolves with 36 points Wednesday on 12/21 shooting. It was Irving’s sixth consecutive 30-point game against Minnesota and his shotmaking and playmaking prowess (nine assists) kept Dallas in the game late.
Also, Irving’s final three-pointer at the buzzer, meaningless to the result, did cover the spread for the Mavericks as Minnesota was 3.5-point favorites. The Mavericks may not be winning games, but they’re going to make sure anybody that bets against them doesn’t win either.
33: Daniel Gafford’s minutes
With Lively out, Gafford will be given an expanded role in the offense and that has been apparent by his minute totals. Gafford’s 33 minutes played Wednesday was just one off his season-high of 34 minutes he logged in Monday’s loss to the Hornets, both well above his 20.3 minutes per game season average.
Gafford has responded with two of his best games of the season, averaging 22.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and amassing 10 blocks across the two games. He’s also knocking down his free throws, converting all nine over the last two games.
25-8: Minnesota’s fast break point advantage
The Timberwolves caught the Mavericks’ transition defense sleeping a few times in Wednesday’s game, often leading to open fast break dunks and layups that left the AAC crowd in awe. Minnesota’s quick guards were leaking out off Dallas’ makes all game and the Mavericks didn’t find an answer fast enough.
A 17-point difference in a one-point loss sticks out on the scoreboard. Dallas’ defense looked lost and defeated at times and those lapses were part of the reason the Mavericks lost their fifth out of the last six games.
27.6: Dallas’ 3-point percentage
It’s hard to win games when your defense is struggling to get stops, but it’s also hard to win games when you can’t make shots of your own. Dallas converted just eight of their 29 attempts from behind the arc on Wednesday, continuing a troubling trend.
Dallas has shot below 35% from three in four of their last five games. The one game they shot above that mark was a 106-98 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dallas has to knock down shots with more consistency if they’re going to climb out of this rut.
28: Days without Dončić
When Dončić went down on Christmas Day, Dallas’ season had been going well. Despite small injuries and illness bugs, the Mavericks had a 19-10 record heading into Christmas and were among the top three teams in the West. Dallas’ offense was flowing and the team was finding its defensive identity.
When you lose one of the best players in basketball, hard times are expected and they have come. Dallas is 4-11 since that injury and could soon fall out of the play-in if they don’t find answers fast.
With Dončić not expected back until early February at the soonest, this season could quickly turn into a “what if” scenario for Mavericks fans.
