Mavs Stat of the Week: Dwight Powell is BACK

DallasBasketball.com picks weekly stat to tell story of how Mavs are performing

For as polarizing a player as Dwight Powell is to the Mavs fanbase, he's having the best shooting season of his career. Regardless of his contract and clumsy movements, he's climbed from the pits of his early-season struggles. The Stanford alum is again a legitimate lob threat for Luka Doncic. 

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Powell attempting a layup

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Powell dunking

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Powell vs. Hornets

In a game where the Mavs faced "best big man shooter ever," Karl-Anthony Towns, Powell was the best shooter, finishing 8-8 in field goals and 6-7 from the charity stripe. Obviously, he isn't taking shots with the same difficulty as Towns, but Powell outworked the All-NBA candidate. 

DWIGHT. POWELL. pic.twitter.com/VE5FVHrbQZ

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 22, 2022

Despite Doncic's struggles against the Timberwolves, Dallas held off a team trying to position itself out of the play-in realm. Powell led both teams in true shooting percentage at an eye-popping .993 mark. 

In light of Powell's tremendous showing against Minnesota, Dallasbasketball.com deemed it fit to discuss his shooting for the season. 

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Powell vs. Rockets

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Powell posting up the Rockets

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Powell dunk attempt on Gobert

True Shooting Percentage: .711

Despite infuriating fans with overall subpar performance the first two months of the season, Powell is officially back to his high-energy, rim-running ways. While people tend to get caught up in his contract size and the lack of rebounds, Powell's efficiency and persistence at cutting to the rim is his saving grace. 

No longer does Powell look impacted by the Achilles injury suffered in January 2020, as he's had 87 dunks this season. The center hasn't had that many dunks since 2018-2019, where he recorded 99. 

Powell's resurgence at the rim makes sense when considering his career-high .711 true shooting percentage. With Doncic as the creator and Powell back to his bouncy self, the Mavs offense has another dimension.

Powell is an important piece to the Dallas defense and offense, even if he isn't a focal point of either side. Understandably, fans can't separate the man from the money. Isolate the contract, look at his effort and then look at his efficiency. Powell's tireless exertion keeps possessions alive.