Luka Doncic, Mavs have a major free throw problem

Luka Doncic and the Mavs have a free throw problem, and once again, it has cost them a win. This time against the Bucks.

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks have a free throw problem, and once again, it has cost them a win.

On Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Mavs were ahead 105-104 when Dorian Finney-Smith was fouled with 10.7 seconds left. With DFS heading to the free throw line, it was Dallas' chance to put the game away for good.

However, in a brutal turn of events, Finney-Smith missed his two throws–TWO!!!–that would have given them a comfortable three-point lead. It would have been okay if he made one, but he didn't and it gave Giannis Antetokounmpo and co. a path to the win.

Dallas ended up losing the game after a brilliant play drawn by Mike Budenholzer saw Robin Lopez bank the alley-oop layup for the 106-105 Milwaukee lead. The Mavs had one last chance to tie, but Luka Doncic's last-gasp effort went for naught.

While many would be pointing at Finney-Smith's painful misses in the end as the root cause of the loss, he's actually not alone to blame. The Mavs as a team missed their last six free throws in the fourth quarter, with Tim Hardaway Jr. botching three straight.

Overall, the Mavs were 10-of-24 from the charity stripe in the game. Had they made at least half of their shots from that area, they would have won. In contrast, the Bucks had no problem baking their freebies, going 19-of-23.

Mavs Have A Big Free Throw Problem

The bigger issue for the Mavs is it isn't the first time it happened. In the first game of the season against the Phoenix Suns, their inability to hit their free throws was one of the reasons they collapsed and blew their 22-point lead.

Dallas had 34 free throw attempts in the said game, but they made just 21. Imagine how they could have easily won had they took advantage of those easy points.

It has been an ongoing ugly trend for the Mavs, which is why they rank at the bottom of the NBA when it comes to free throw shooting.

After Friday's debacle, Luka Doncic and co. now rank 29th among 30 NBA teams when it comes to free throws. They are making just 71.8 percent of their shots from the charity line, only slightly ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies who are at 69.8 percent.

Jason Kidd did say that they practice free throws “all the time,” but you can't really claim that when you're one of the worst at it. Free throw shooting is a matter of repetition, and by the looks of it, the Mavs are not doing enough to master it.

Up 1 with 10.7 seconds left Dorian Finney-Smith misses both free throws pic.twitter.com/VxNvrocp2i

— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) December 10, 2022

If the Mavs want to compete in the playoffs and improve from last year's Wester Conference Finals appearance, they have to make their free throws. The match against the Bucks was a test whether they can compete against the top title contenders, and obviously, they failed.

Fortunately, the season is still long and they still have several chances to improve and work on their biggest problem.

Dallas Has More Than Just Free Throws To Address

Aside from making their freebies, though, the Mavs definitely have more issues to address.

Luka Doncic was the only player to breach the 20-point mark against the Bucks, and sure enough, relying on one man won't cut it in the playoffs. The rest of the team needs to contribute.

While Dallas seemingly believes their heliocentric offense could bring them to the title, it is becoming increasingly clear that it's not sustainable. Jason Kidd has admitted as much recently, and he did say before that they need a “Robin” beside their batman.

Dallas really needs to get Luka some help in order to compete. The first 25 games of the season should have already given them a good view of what the team–as it is currently built–can achieve with the Slovenian wonderboy at its core.

There might be some fears that Doncic's ball-dominant play won't work well with other stars, with what happened to his partnership with Kristaps Porzingis a prime example. There's just no way Luka is going to let another player take over when he's on the court.

Nonetheless, if the Mavs insist on playing like that without a true superstar alongside Doncic, they may never be able to tap his full potential as well.

There's a reason that team's are trying to accumulate stars to win the championship. It's a proven method. While others would argue that the Bucks won the championship with Giannis as the lone superstar, it shouldn't be forgotten that they had the perfect “Robin” that is also an All-Star in Khris Middleton.