Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving's Mavs Lead NBA in Clutch Game Win Percentage; Good Sign for Playoffs?
You can tell a lot about a team based on how its players perform in pressure situations, and if this season’s clutch numbers are any indicator, the Dallas Mavericks are going to be a hard out come playoff time.
Through 69 games, the Mavs are 40-29, which is good enough for No. 7 in the Western Conference standings. Dallas is just a half-game back of the No. 6 seed, 2.5 games back of the No. 5 seed, and 3.5 games back of the No. 4 seed with 13 games remaining.
Out of all NBA teams, the Mavs rank at the top when it comes to clutch win percentage. Dallas is 20-8 in clutch games, which is a .714 win pace. The Los Angeles Lakers (.679), Denver Nuggets (.667), Milwaukee Bucks (.667) and Boston Celtics (.655) fill out the top five.
Given that the Mavs have two future Hall-of-Fame guards in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, it’s no surprise that they’re performing well in crunch time, especially since both players are healthy and have had a chance to really build chemistry. Factor in the trade-deadline additions of Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington, and the versatile Mavs are a team that no opponent wants to see come playoff time.
“I feel like we match up with everybody well, especially on the defensive end,” Irving said following his buzzer-beating game-winner over the defending-champion Denver Nuggets on Sunday. “We have the ability to switch one through five and we also have a foundational defense we’ve been going through pretty much the whole season.
“I felt like we just consistently worked on our communication and the trust that we have in the intangible skill sets to be able to stop teams. Then, we also have the skill sets offensively to dominate teams and really get out in transition, and not so much playing half-court and the iso game. If we get a few fast break points, if we score 15 fastbreak points, it’s gonna be a hard night for any team.”
In clutch games, the Mavs rank second in offensive with a 128.0 offensive rating, 10th in defense with a 107.7 defensive rating and sixth with a net rating of 20.3.
“We are gonna keep playing to our strengths and when it gets tough and we face a little adversity throughout the game, we’re able to slow the game down and throw it to the post or go to our comp plays.”
After missing the postseason entirely last season due to several injuries and roster shortcomings, the Mavs are hungry for playoff basketball again. With Doncic and Irving leading the charge, it’s not hard to see Dallas making some noise and advancing several rounds when that time comes.
