Dallas Mavericks (1-1) beat Indiana Pacers (1-1) 121-105 on the road on Friday, October 23, never trailing at a quarter break.
How it unfolded
The Mavericks led at every quarter break. The cushion peaked at 34 after the second quarter and the Pacers never got back in front at a break.
What decided it
The Mavericks shot 58% on an effective basis to 48.9% for the Pacers and the Mavericks gave the ball away on 13.8% of their possessions while the Pacers did so 17.9% of the time. Shot quality is the biggest of the four factors, and it was the clearest gap.
The game played at about 104 possessions per team. The Mavericks scored 116.7 points per 100 possessions and the Pacers scored 101.2, a difference of 15.5.
The Mavericks' reserves also made a difference, outscoring the opposing bench 53-26.
Who made the difference
P.J. Washington (DAL) posted the best line of the night by Game Score (17.9): 20 pts, 13 reb, 0 ast, 3 blk on 6-11 shooting. The team was -4 in the minutes P.J. played.
For the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton was the best of the rest at 16.2: 18 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast on 8-17 shooting.
P.J. Washington (20 pts, 13 reb, 0 ast) recorded a double-double.
Game Score is a single number that weighs points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, shooting efficiency, fouls and turnovers. It is not an official stat, just a quick way to rank lines.
What it means
The pre-game Win Meter had it close to a coin flip, at about 36% for the Mavericks.
Across the last 4 meetings in our records, the series is even.
The Mavericks are now 1-1, and the Pacers are 1-1. The Mavericks last five before this game: L-L-L-W-L.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.