The Mavericks team free-throw percentage of .879 is easily the best in the league and is a big reason why they were able to outpace Golden State last night. With the Mavs finishing the night 26-30 (86.6%) from the line, the Warriors answered with 30 free throw attempts of their own. The only catch was that they made a paltry 16 out of those 30 (53.3%), the obvious difference in the game. Golden State is currently 27th in the league in free-throw shooting and if they could have mustered even the league median of 74 percent, they would have made 22 free throws and would have likely won.
Even Gana Diop, who has shoots free throws at 51.6 percent for his career, has made 4 out of 5 so far this season. Devin Harris is the only Maverick shooting under 80 percent, and he's reasonably close at 73.3 percent. The Mavs finished last season shooting 80.5 percent from the line, second only to Phoenix who shot 80.8 percent.
On last tidbit before we put Golden State to rest (at least until Jan. 2). Last season, Golden State was 26th in the NBA in free-throw shooting during the regular season to the tune of 71.7 percent. During the playoffs against the Mavericks they shot 77.7 percent from the line, which would have been good for 7th in the league during the regular season. Yet another reason to believe Don Nelson sprinkles magic dust on his team when they play the Mavericks.
-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd
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