3 Areas where the Dallas Mavericks need to improve in the 2nd half of the season
The Dallas Mavericks entered the 2019-20 season hoping to contend for one of the final playoff spots in the Western Conference, and a first postseason appearance since 2016 already looks virtually guaranteed following a better than expected first half of the season.
As we approach the 2020 All-Star Weekend, the Mavs sit fifth in the West with a 29-18 record - and are just 2.5 games back from the Utah Jazz in the fourth seed. Much of Dallas' success is owed to the MVP-level performances of Luka Doncic - and Rick Carlisle's team are in with a realistic shot of securing homecourt advantage for a potentially tough first-round matchup in the playoffs.
Nevertheless, while they have surpassed expectations, the Mavs still have room to grow, and here we will take a look at the three areas where they need to improve in the second half of the season.
#3 Free Throw Accuracy
The Mavericks are averaging 23.7 trips to the free-throw line (10th best in the NBA), although they are collectively shooting just 76.6 percent from the charity stripe. While not close to being the lowest number in the NBA, a quick look down the Mavs roster suggests that the team should also be among the top 10 teams in free-throw percentage, and management will be eager to see an improvement in the coming weeks.
While Seth Curry (88.3%) and Maxi Kleber (88.3%) have been reliable, the star duo of Doncic (76.3%) and Porzingis (73.9%) have been inconsistent. Doncic's accuracy has further plummeted to 66.7 percent this month and with the Slovenian making nine trips to the free-throw line per night - this is an area that needs sorting out as quickly as possible.