Stats Rundown: 4 numbers to know from the Mavericks’ 114-101 series-clinching Game 6 win

The Dallas Mavericks are moving onto the second round of the NBA Playoffs for a date with the Oklahoma City Thunder after Friday’s 114-101 win in Game 6 of their opening-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Dallas exploded in the third quarter to put the game out of reach, behind 13 points in the quarter from Kyrie Irving. Irving led the Mavs with 30 points, six rebounds and two steals in the close-out win. He hit five of his nine 3-point attempts on a night when the rest of the team went 7-of-27 from deep.

Luka Dončić had yet another tough night from 3-point land, going just 1-of-10 in the win, but poured in 28 points in the midrange game and around the rim, while dishing 13 assists and grabbing seven boards of his own. Norman Powell led the Clippers with 20 in the loss, and Paul George added 18.

Here are four key stats from the win over the Clippers that was five years in the making.

10: Dallas first-quarter offensive rebounds

The Mavs shooting woes from the perimeter continued in Game 6, but Dallas was eating on the offensive glass to start the game. The Mavericks pulled down 10 offensive boards in the first quarter and outscored the Clippers 12-6 on second-chance points in the first. The Mavs’ 10 offensive boards in the first quarter were the most in an NBA playoff game since 2007.

Josh Green’s energy off the bench was a huge spark plug late in the first quarter. He grabbed an offensive board and whipped a slick pass to Dončić in the lane with 1:11 left in the quarter. Dončić’s two free throws put the Mavs up 29-26.

Then the next time down the court, Green hustled after another offensive board on Maxi Kleber’s missed 3-pointer before getting it to Kyrie Irving, who found Kleber wide open again on the right wing. Kleber cashed in his first 3-ball of the game on his third attempt to give Dallas a 34-26 lead after one.

Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II combined for five more offensive rebounds in the opening quarter. The Mavericks actually recorded more offensive rebounds (10) than defensive rebounds (7) in the first.

Dallas beat the Clippers up for 18 offensive boards in the win.

19-6: Clippers run to end the first half

Dallas watched a 13-point lead evaporate in the second quarter as the Clippers outscored the Mavs 19-6 to end the first half. Dončić found Green on a backdoor lob with a difficult finish at the rim to put the Mavericks ahead 46-33 with 6:11 left in the second, but Dallas was a collective brick for the rest of the half.

Terance Mann hit a pull-up 3-pointer with 5:31 left in the second to pull the Clippers within 46-38, and Norman Powell hit a couple jumpers to pull to within 48-44 a couple minutes later. Then back-to-back drives to the hoop from Mann and Paul George tied the game, 48-48, with 1:41 left before the break.

The Mavs shot just 2-for-9 and turned the ball over four times in the last six minutes of the second quarter, and Dallas went into the locker room tied, 52-52. The Clippers used their length on defense to force the Mavericks into tough shots throughout the first half.

13: Third-quarter points for Kyrie Irving

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

Irving scored just two points in the first half on Friday by exploded late in the third quarter to help the Mavericks to their 87-72 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Early in the third he hit his first 3-pointer of the game on a transition pull-up after going 0-for-2 (1-of-6 from the field) from distance in the first half. At that point, the Mavs had run off the first eight points of the quarter and were up 60-52.

He hit another running pull-up 3-ball midway through the third to put the Mavs up 72-58, then hit a driving floater and another 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions late in the frame to extend the lead to 85-70. The Mavericks outscored the Clippers 35-20 in the third.

Irving’s run of brilliance continued into the early minutes of the fourth, as he hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game on the Mavs’ first possession of the frame, then followed it up with a midrange fadeaway jumper to make it 90-72 with 11 minutes to play.

Finally, the Mavs were starting to exert their will over this game, and Irving was a huge part of gaining the necessary separation to make the outcome certain. Irving poured in 13 more in the fourth and has now willed his teams to victory in close-out playoff games 13 times in 13 chances in his career.

22-of-33: Dallas free-throw shooting

The Mavs finally pulled away and clinched the series in the process. Still, there will be a few things to correct going into the Western Conference semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. One of them has to be free throw shooting, as Dallas left 11 points out there on the floor by going just 22-of-33 (67.7%) from the charity strip in the Game 6 win.

In a game that was closer than it should have been against an under-manned Clippers squad for two and a half quarters, those 11 points mean something. If the game had stayed close, it could have sunk the Mavs. Just something to watch out for as the playoffs progress.

Dallas also had a bad free-throw shooting night in Game 2, when they went just 18-of-27.

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