Stats Rundown: 4 stats from the Mavericks 117-95 loss to the Thunder

The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 117-95 in Game 1 of their second round playoff series. The Mavericks continued a troubling trend of not showing up for the first game of the series. The Mavericks could not generate quality offense and could not do enough to disrupt the Thunder offense.

The Mavericks were visibly frustrated with the officials in the first half but as they often do, the calls came close to evening out and ended up being less of a factor than fans such as myself make them out to be.

The Mavericks simply did not get enough from Luka Doncic to be competitive in this game. Doncic is the sun around which the Mavericks universe orbits, and unfortunately he has not been producing enough energy for the Mavericks offensive ecosystem.

Here are the stats to know.

19: Points scored for Luka Doncic

Doncic deserves and receives a mammoth amount of praise most of the time. Unfortunately, the criticism has to be as vocal when it is called for. He has been dealing with a knee issue but no one is perfectly healthy this time of year.

He is playing and therefore he gets graded like he is fully healthy. He was 6-of-19 from the floor, 1-of-8 from three and 6-of-10 from the free throw line. His jumper has deserted him at the worst time and he has to compensate by getting to the rim.

14: Shots for Kyrie Irving

Irving simply has to be more aggressive and look for his shot more. He is arguably the most skilled player to ever touch a basketball. This series is going to take every bit of that skill to win.

Irving led the Mavericks with 20 points and was 7-of-14 from the field. Efficiency is going to be less important than volume from Irving this series.

5: Blocks for Daniel Gafford

It is important to end with a positive, and Gafford was the Mavericks best player with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. The most efficient player in the NBA was only 5-of-12 from the floor as the Thunder collapsed around him. As good as he was, he will need to play with even more force going forward.

This series is best of seven, not winner take all. The Mavericks are still in it, but they have adjustments to make.

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