Dallas Mavs Hot Start: 3 Big Stats to Monitor

The Dallas Mavericks have started the 2023-24 NBA season 6-1 despite not playing their best basketball yet, and DallasBasketball.com identifies three big stats to watch as the year progresses.

The Dallas Mavericks are off to their best start to a season in nearly two decades. On Monday night, despite playing on the second end of a back-to-back and their third game in four days, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving came up big in the second half and turned a 15-point deficit against the Orlando Magic into a 117-102 win. Dallas now sits at 6-1 on the year, its best start since the 2004-05 season when it started 7-1.

Although that record is good, it doesn't mean the Mavs have played their best brand of basketball yet. Sure, having back-to-back 15-point comeback wins is impressive, but it could also be slightly concerning that Dallas continues to find themselves down double digits in these contests. It is a long season, and numbers are sure to change over time, but here are the three biggest stats to monitor from the Mavs' hot start.

Mavs Are Best Clutch Team in The NBA

Doncic and Irving obviously took last year's clutch failures to heart, because the Mavs have completely flipped the script in that area this season. There have only been eight teams play in at least five clutch games so far, and the Mavs are the only team with an undefeated record of 6-0. The Golden State Warriors are second at 5-1.

The Mavs are first in clutch offensive rating at 142.9, fourth in clutch defensive rating at 85.7 and first in clutch net rating at +57.1. The next best clutch net rating in the league belongs to the Milwaukee Bucks, who are +38.7 in three clutch games. Doncic and Irving have proven that they can play and win together in close-game situations, and that should only get better as the two stars continue to build chemistry. Dating back to last season, Doncic and Irving have still only played in 21 total games together.

Kyrie Irving Making Up For Struggling Shots With Assists

Arguably the most impressive part of the Mavs' hot start is that they've accomplished it with Kyrie Irving not being his usual offensive self. In five games, Irving is averaging 20 points, 3.8 rebounds and a career-high 7.8 assists. His 3-point shot hasn't been falling, as he's only shooting 24.1 percent from deep so far, but the eight-time All-Star is making up for it by being an elite distributor, setting the table for this teammates and giving them confidence.

Irving is a star, and he's simply too talented for those shooting struggles to continue for much longer. When those 3s start to fall at his normal clip, the Mavs are going to be even better, and that's a scary thought for the rest of the league considering how they're already 6-1.

Kyrie Irving is averaging a career-high 7.8 assists per game this season / Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

Mavs Better at Rebounding & Defense, But Still Not Great

Last season, the Mavs were dead last in rebounds per game. They hoped to improve that standing with the additions of Grant Williams, rookie big man Dereck Lively II and an overall renewed commitment by the team to secure boards. So far, the Mavs are better, as they're currently tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for 23rd with 41.9 rebounds per game.

Defensively, the Mavs were 25th last season, and they've improved to 19th so far this year. However, if they were able to avoid giving opponents so many second-chance opportunities, that would probably help keep them from going down double digits so often. As Lively continues to gain experience both on the court and in an NBA weight room, he will continue to help the Mavs greatly in the rebounding department. However, Dallas might want to consider bolstering its backup big-man depth at some point this season just to be safe.

"I think the [defensive] numbers will continue to improve throughout the season," Irving told DallasBasketball.com in an exclusive interview.

"It's been good having an anchor like [Grant Williams] on your back line who can cover up for many mistakes, you know. Same thing with Dereck Lively II or Derrick Jones Jr. We have guys that can guard, want to guard, want to stop the opposing players, and it makes my job a lot easier to go out there and just perform and focus on the other skills of the game that make me great."

Overall, the Mavs have been a really good team to start this season, and they’ll try to continue that momentum as they take on the Toronto Raptors at home on Wednesday. Then, on Friday, they’ll have another big test against the Los Angeles Clippers and their new Big 3 of James Harden, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.