ESPN Stats & Information 9y

Stats to know: Mavs' late-game romp

Friday's Dallas Mavericks-Miami Heat game was one of the strangest of the season.

The Heat seemed to be in total control at home, leading 60-51 near the end of the third quarter, thanks to a huge effort from Hassan Whiteside.

But the Mavericks won going away with one amazing push.

What happened?

The Mavericks got hot, both with their jump shooting and in the paint. They outscored the Heat 42-12 over the final 15 minutes and 10 seconds.

The Mavericks scored 28 points in the second half on catch-and-shoot jump shots, including 8-of-15 on 3-pointers. The Heat scored 27 points total in the second half.

The game turned when Miami subbed Whiteside out with 3:10 left in the third quarter. The Mavericks scored the next 21 points and the Heat never recovered, even after bringing Whiteside back in.

The Heat were 9-of-37 from the field for the game with Whiteside on the bench. They outrebounded the Mavericks by 10 with Whiteside on the court, but were outrebounded by seven with him on the bench.

Unlikely spark

The Mavericks' run began with a 3-pointer by Charlie Villanueva, who finished with a season-high 20 points and was plus-29 off the bench after playing much of the dominant fourth quarter.

Villanueva was 1-of-7 from the field in his past three games and was shooting 36 percent from the field and 26 percent from 3-point range in his previous 10 games.

Whiteside's amazing game

In defeat, Whiteside still had a pretty amazing game. His 24 rebounds were the most by a Heat player since Kevin Willis had 24 for Miami in December 1994.

Whiteside had more first-quarter rebounds (14) than the Mavericks had points (13).

The story of Whiteside's abbreviated season (Friday marked his 20th game) has been one of efficiency. He entered the day averaging 17 points and 14 rebounds per 36 minutes and ranked sixth in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating. The two players sandwiching him in the rankings? Stephen Curry and LeBron James.

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