Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks were riding high after they defeated the Golden State Warriors, 116-113, on Tuesday night to snap a three-game losing streak. However, the Mavs quickly came crashing down to earth. On Thursday, the Mavs lost to the league-worst Detroit Pistons thanks to Killian Hayes' late-game heroics.
However, Luka Doncic and the Mavs also shot themselves on the foot with an ignominious free-throw shooting display that fans haven't seen from the team in over 20 years.
On the night, the Mavs shot 14/29 from the foul line, a putrid display even for a team that entered the night ranked 26th in free-throw percentage (at 72.7 percent). In the process of doing so, it was the first time the Mavs as a team shot below 50 percent from the charity stripe on over 20 attempts in a single game since at least 2000, per Callie Caplan of Dallas News.
If the Mavs shot around their average percentage, making 21 of 29 freebies (72.4 percent), they would have won by a single point. Alas, that's not how averages work, and the Mavs found that out the hard way. Luka Doncic, despite tallying 35 points and 10 dimes, was the chief culprit as he went 2-6 from the foul line. Christian Wood did his best to boost their percentages after he made four out of six freebies. (That's how dire the free-throw situation was.)
The Pistons also shot horribly from the foul line as they went 14-24. Perhaps there was just something in the air at Little Caesar's Arena, as every single player for both the Mavs and the Pistons who took a free throw ended up missing at least one.
At least both coaches know what to drill into their team during their next practice. Nevertheless, this will have to sting for Dallas, who fall to 10-11 after this most recent defeat.
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