Stat summary: 3 numbers from the Mavericks’ impressive win against the Thunder

The Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-119 on Sunday night in an entertaining win in Oklahoma City. Dallas was without Luka Doncic and the Thunder were without Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso, but still the Mavericks were able to pull out the narrow victory.

It was a team-wide effort without Doncic, and Dallas exercised its size advantage in a positive way. Here are the numbers to know.

18, 24: Mavericks offensive rebounds, second-chance points

The Thunder were without Chet Holmgren, who broke his hip a week ago and will be out indefinitely, and are still without Isaiah Hartenstein, who broke his hand in the preseason. OKC was also without Jaylin Williams as he nursed a hamstring injury. Those are all the true bigs on the Thunder roster, so they’ve been ready with an ultra-small ball lineup with no players taller than 6’6 in the rotation.

Because of this, Dallas had to take advantage of its massive frontcourt compared to centers Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford and forwards PJ Washington and Maxi Kleber. The Mavericks did just that, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and scoring 24 second-chance points.

The Mavericks outscored the Thunder in second-chance points 24-7, so that advantage was crucial in what ended up being a three-point victory. PJ Washington had 17 rebounds of his own, six offensive. Dallas never played down to OKC’s small ball and bullied the Thunder on the glass all night.

7: Mavericks players score in double figures

Without Luka Doncic, who was officially out with a bruised right knee but apparently has various multiple lower-body ailments, the Mavericks needed role players to step up and fill the gaps for Doncic’s lack of points, and boy did those players ever with seven Mavericks scoring in double figures .

PJ Washington led the way with 27 and used his size to score near the basket and eventually make some threes. Kyrie Irving had 23 points, looking like his usual efficient self, though he did most of his damage on two-pointers (6-of-12 from two). The biggest surprises were Jaden Hardy’s 13 points and Spencer Dinwiddie’s 10 — both bench guards had struggled to shoot the ball lately, and Hardy did all his damage without making a single three-pointer, attacking well from the jump. Dinwiddie, on the other hand, did most of his work behind the arc, with six huge points in the fourth quarter on three consecutive pointers.

36: Mavericks free throw attempt

The Mavericks don’t get to the line a ton for a team that has two stars in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but they were able to get there a ton against the Thunder by using an old fashioned bully ball to get the Thunder in foul trouble. Dallas went 30-of-36 at the free throw line, compared to the Thunder’s 19-of-25.

While Dallas picked up a few extra trips thanks to the Thunder’s neglect to extend the game in the final minute, the Mavericks still had the advantage most of the night at the free throw line thanks to the team’s willingness to get into the paint. and the Mavericks’ bigger lineup forced the Thunder into fouls during loose ball and rebound situations – PJ Washington had 10 attempts and Gafford had seven. It is one of the few times in the Doncic era that a player other than Doncic reached double digits in free throw attempts.