The Dallas Mavericks did not win Monday’s free-throw totals. They won the arithmetic attached to them.
Dallas made 13 of the 14 foul shots it earned, while Miami converted only 14 of 25 in the Mavericks’ 113-109 victory at Kaseya Center. That is not a points advantage at the line; Miami actually scored one more there. It is a difference in waste, and in a game decided by four points, Miami’s 11 misses became part of the result’s architecture.
That margin rescued Dallas from a night that offered plenty of other ways to lose. The Mavericks shot 14-for-46 from 3-point range, turned the ball over 17 times and watched Miami score 48 points in the paint. The Heat also received a remarkable 25 free-throw attempts, nearly twice Dallas’ total.
The Mavericks’ offense was hardly a model of tidy administration. It simply avoided turning every imperfect possession into a second problem at the stripe.
The makes were distributed across the lineup. P.J. Washington went 4-for-4, Cooper Flagg was 3-for-3, Kyrie Irving and Max Christie each made both attempts, and Walter Clayton Jr. converted his only try.
Zaccharie Risacher provided the lone miss, finishing 1-for-2. Those shots did not create a free-throw scoring edge, but they prevented Dallas from donating points during a game in which its perimeter attack offered little comfort.
Washington’s perfect work helped Dallas steady itself after Miami’s best stretch. The Heat fell behind 19-11, then flipped the game with a 37-17 run spanning the latter part of the first quarter and the opening minutes of the second. Miami led by as many as 12 and carried an 84-83 advantage into the fourth.
The Mavericks were not methodically controlling the contest; they were repeatedly finding ways to remain within reach.
Miami’s misses were especially costly because its most imposing offensive force was doing almost everything else. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, producing a triple-double while shooting 3-for-7 at the line. Bam Adebayo went 2-for-4, and Davion Mitchell was 1-for-2.
Antetokounmpo’s 12-for-23 shooting makes this an awkward game to describe as a defensive shutdown. Miami had a dangerous engine. It just kept leaving points beside the road.
Dallas needed that generosity because its own stars were hardly flawless. Flagg scored 29 points and handed out 11 assists, but he also committed five turnovers. Irving scored 18 and added six assists, though he shot 2-for-11 from three.
Washington made four threes but needed 11 attempts to do it. Walter Clayton Jr. supplied a clean burst of 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-2 from outside, and gave the Mavericks an efficient contribution amid the clatter.
