By the Numbers: Spurs cruise past Mavs

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San Antonio survived a slow start, scoring a season-low 14 first quarter points while Dallas struggled as well with 16. But while San Antonio quickly heated up, Dallas remained cold and the Spurs ran away and hid.

By BrettJones@comradebernout Jan 18, 2016, 9:35am CST

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Spurs 112, Mavericks 83 - Jan 17, '16

The Spurs remain undefeated at home, once again blowing out a ~~subpar opponent~~ quality playoff team with efficient play and stifling defense. Here are the numbers:

Stat of the night: 10%. The percentage of first quarter points that came from defensive three second call free throws.

The Spurs shot just 49% eFG on the game, but this is a bit misleading. After shooting a comically bad 22.7% in the first quarter (which must have been the lowest scoring quarter of the season with a combined 30 points from both squads), the Spurs turned on the afterburners and went 58.1% the rest of the way. Just a tad bit better.
The Spurs topped the Mavs in all Four Factors. Most impressively, San Antonio held Dallas to 40% eFG on the night.
San Antonio turned the ball over just 7 times, sporting a 4.14 Ball Control Index, to the Mavericks 13 and 1.85.
While the Spurs gathered just 6 offensive rebounds themselves, they held Dallas to just 5 on the night. That's a bigger difference than it sounds though, because Dallas had a lot of opportunities for offensive rebounds (see 40%, eFG)
LaMarcus Aldridge was on fire in this one, scoring 23 points on 9-15 shooting, hitting all 5 of his free throws, grabbing 7 boards, a block and an assist, all in just 27 minutes of play. It is a huge luxury to have a big guy who can take over a game for stretches in that way.
Great numbers from (some of) the bench, with Jonathan Simmons coming in second in AdjGS with a crazy effective 14 points, 2 boards, 2 assists and a steal in just 15 minutes of play. It's pretty clear at this point that Simmons is a quality rotation player and the Spurs once more found a diamond in the rough. Watching him in the summer league, it looked like everything he does well would be pretty transferable, and that looks pretty definitively to have been the case.
Boris was great once more, putting up 16 points in as many minutes, with 3 boards and 3 assists to boot. He also made what may have been my favorite play of the night. It's almost like Diaw is teasing Matthews, picking up his dribble and faking the pass. "Nice D, I'm gonna have to pass out of this." But no. He then pivots and effortlessly flips the ball in the bucket.

Fans were treated to another Marjanovic sighting, as Boban came in and did Boban things with 7 points, 4 boards and an assist in 9 minutes. My favorite exchange of the night, as imagined by Quixem:

Boban: "Say my name." Jeremy Evans: "... you're Boban." Boban: "You're goddamn right." https://t.co/JHapDkWR2m
— Quixem Ramirez (@quixem) January 18, 2016

Four Factors (def.)

	Spurs	Mavericks
Shooting (eFG%)	49%	40%
Ball Handling (TO%)	7%	13%
Off Rebounding (OR%)	13%	10%
Shooting FTs (FT Rate)	31%	31%

Team Stats (Definitions at bottom of post)

	Spurs	Mavericks
Pace (No. of Possessions)	101.7
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.10	0.82
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.24	1.02
2-PT FG%	52.9%	39.7%
3-PT FG%	25.0%	26.1%
FT%	82.1%	76.0%
True Shooting %	54.7%	45.1%

	Spurs	Mavericks
Offensive Rating	108.4	83.0
Defensive Rating	83.0	108.4
Net Rating	25.4	-25.4

	Spurs	Mavericks
Passes / poss.	3.0	3.0
% of FGA uncontested	46.7%	48.1%
Points in the paint	44	32
Second chance points	9	3
Fast break points	9	5

	Spurs	Mavericks
Assists	22	20
Steals	7	4
Turnovers	7	13
Ball Control Index (BCI) (Assists + Steals) / TO	4.14	1.85

	Spurs	Mavericks
Expected Offensive Rebounds	11.5	12.5
Offensive Rebounds	6	5
Difference	-5.5	-7.5

Spurs Shot Chart

Mavericks Shot Chart

Players (Definitions at bottom of post, columns sortable)

Spurs

Player	Min	AdjGS	GS/Min	Line	Usage%	Floor%	OffRtg	DefRtg	NetRtg
LaMarcus Aldridge	27	23.9	0.88	23 Pts (9-15 FG, 5-5 FT) 7 Reb (1 Off), 1 Ast, 1 Blk, 1 PF	30%	68%	105.0	77.0	28.0
Jonathon Simmons	15	15.7	1.03	14 Pts (5-7 FG, 2-2 3PT, 2-2 FT) 2 Reb (0 Off), 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 PF	22%	79%	143.7	105.1	38.6
Boris Diaw	16	15.7	0.99	16 Pts (6-11 FG, 2-5 3PT, 2-2 FT) 3 Reb (1 Off), 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 3 PF	34%	58%	98.2	84.0	14.2
Kawhi Leonard	29	13.9	0.48	15 Pts (5-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 4-6 FT) 4 Reb (0 Off), 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 TO	24%	49%	102.9	77.1	25.9
David West	14	9.3	0.66	8 Pts (4-8 FG, 0-1 FT) 5 Reb (1 Off), 4 Ast, 1 Blk, 1 TO, 1 PF	28%	51%	102.1	81.9	20.2
Boban Marjanovic	9	8.2	0.91	7 Pts (3-6 FG, 1-1 FT) 4 Reb (2 Off), 1 Ast,	30%	57%	136.6	112.7	23.9
Kyle Anderson	12	7.5	0.65	8 Pts (3-3 FG, 2-2 FT) 2 Reb (0 Off), 1 Ast, 1 TO, 3 PF	16%	83%	125.6	102.7	22.8
Tony Parker	25	7.1	0.28	2 Pts (0-4 FG, 2-2 FT) 5 Reb (0 Off), 7 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 TO, 2 PF	11%	46%	104.0	68.4	35.6
Manu Ginobili	18	4.5	0.25	7 Pts (3-8 FG, 0-3 3PT, 1-2 FT) 3 Reb (1 Off), 1 Stl, 2 PF	21%	38%	96.5	87.2	9.3
Danny Green	28	3.2	0.11	4 Pts (2-8 FG, 0-4 3PT, 0-1 FT) 7 Reb (0 Off), 1 Ast, 2 Blk, 1 PF	13%	26%	99.3	75.9	23.4
Patty Mills	16	1.7	0.10	6 Pts (2-4 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT) 2 Reb (0 Off), 2 TO, 3 PF	17%	42%	106.6	88.3	18.3
Tim Duncan	21	1.6	0.08	2 Pts (0-4 FG, 2-2 FT) 5 Reb (0 Off), 1 Ast, 1 Blk, 2 PF	11%	29%	102.5	65.0	37.5
Rasual Butler	9	-0.1	-0.01	0 Pts (0-1 FG, 0-1 3PT ) 2 Reb (0 Off),	4%	0%	130.1	107.5	22.6

Show Mavericks Players

Player	Min	AdjGS	GS/Min	Line	Usage%	Floor%	OffRtg	DefRtg	NetRtg
Dwight Powell	16	17.1	1.10	15 Pts (4-8 FG, 2-3 3PT, 5-5 FT) 2 Reb (0 Off), 1 Blk, 1 TO, 2 PF	32%	57%	96.5	117.3	-20.8
Jeremy Evans	9	10.6	1.15	5 Pts (2-3 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-2 FT) 4 Reb (2 Off), 2 Blk, 1 Stl, 3 PF	17%	62%	107.5	130.1	-22.6
Wesley Matthews	26	9.9	0.38	12 Pts (5-9 FG, 1-4 3PT, 1-2 FT) 1 Reb (0 Off), 1 Ast, 1 TO, 3 PF	20%	49%	77.5	108.0	-30.5
JaVale McGee	15	9.3	0.62	5 Pts (2-4 FG, 1-1 FT) 10 Reb (2 Off), 3 Blk, 2 TO, 3 PF	20%	35%	75.9	95.0	-19.1
Raymond Felton	20	8.8	0.44	9 Pts (4-9 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-1 FT) , 3 Ast, 1 TO	24%	47%	83.0	128.7	-45.7
Devin Harris	16	8.6	0.53	6 Pts (2-4 FG, 2-3 3PT ) 1 Reb (0 Off), 2 Ast, 1 PF	12%	56%	97.0	110.8	-13.8
Deron Williams	23	8.1	0.36	8 Pts (2-6 FG, 0-1 3PT, 4-4 FT) 5 Reb (0 Off), 3 Ast, 2 TO, 3 PF	20%	47%	60.9	95.1	-34.2
Zaza Pachulia	21	4.4	0.21	5 Pts (1-7 FG, 3-4 FT) 7 Reb (1 Off), 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 4 PF	20%	32%	66.2	94.9	-28.6
Jose Juan Barea	16	4.1	0.25	5 Pts (2-7 FG, 0-3 3PT, 1-2 FT) , 4 Ast, 2 PF	24%	43%	109.1	105.5	3.6
Chandler Parsons	28	2.3	0.08	5 Pts (2-7 FG, 1-1 3PT ) 4 Reb (0 Off), 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 3 TO, 1 PF	16%	20%	66.4	91.6	-25.1
Dirk Nowitzki	24	0.7	0.03	4 Pts (2-10 FG, 0-3 3PT ) 5 Reb (0 Off), 3 Ast, 1 TO	21%	24%	75.7	99.7	-24.0
Charlie Villanueva	17	0.0	0.00	4 Pts (1-5 FG, 0-3 3PT, 2-3 FT) 4 Reb (0 Off), 1 Ast, 2 TO, 1 PF	21%	27%	102.5	133.4	-30.9
John Jenkins	9	-0.8	-0.09	0 Pts (0-2 FG, 0-1 FT) 2 Reb (0 Off), 1 Ast,	11%	14%	112.7	136.6	-23.9

Spurs Index: 99.9 (def.)

Factor	Value	Score
Passing (AST%)	52.4%	25.3
Shooting (eFG%)	49.4%	18.4
Defensive Rebounding (DReb%)	90.0%	23.6
Defense (DefRtg)	83.0	24.1
Opponent % of FGA Uncontested	48.1%	8.5
Total		99.9

Mavericks Spurs Index: 98.0 Show Breakdown

Confused? Show Advanced Stats Glossary

eFG%: Effective Field Goal percentage. (via) Effective Field Goal Percentage; the formula is (FG + 0.5 * 3P) / FGA. This statistic adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal. For example, suppose Player A goes 4 for 10 with 2 threes, while Player B goes 5 for 10 with 0 threes. Each player would have 10 points from field goals, and thus would have the same effective field goal percentage (50%).

AdjGS: a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game. The "adjustment" in Adjusted Game Score is simply matching the total game scores to the total points scored in the game, thereby redistributing the game's points scored to those who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

Usage%: This "estimates the % of team possessions a player consumes while on the floor" (via). The usage of those possessions is determined via a formula using field goal and free throw attempts, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. The higher the number, the more prevalent a player is (good or bad) in a team's offensive outcome.

Floor%: Via Basketball-Reference.com: Floor % answers the question, "when Player X uses a possession, what is the probability that his team scores at least 1 point?". The higher the Floor%, the more frequently the team probably scores when the given player is involved.

Offensive Rating (offRtg): Points per 100 possessions.

Defensive Rating (defRtg): Points allowed per 100 possessions.

Spurs Index: The Spurs Index © is a just-for-fun formula that attempts to quantify just how "Spursy" a particular game is, based off averages for the 2013-2014 regular season. A perfectly average game would have a Spurs Index of 100. The formula consists of four factors which the Spurs are known for and lead or nearly lead the league in: Shooting (effective Field Goal %), Passing (Assist percentage), Defensive Rebounding Rate, and Defensive Rating. These metrics are weighted as follows:

Factor	Weight	Average
Passing (AST%)	30%	62.1%
Shooting (eFG%)	20%	53.7%
Defensive Rebounding (DReb%)	20%	76.4%
Defense (DefRtg)	20%	100.1
Opponent % of FGA Uncontested	10%	40.8%

The values for each metric are determined based on how a particular game's performance compares to the Spurs 2013-2014 regular season average for that metric. For instance, the average effective Field Goal percentage for 2013-2014 was 53.7%. So if the Spurs shot 60% in a given game, the score for eFG% would be calculated by: (0.6 / 0.537) * 20, which would yield a "score" for that factor of 22.3.

Special thanks to:

Bill Connelly over at our sister blog Rock M Nation, for the idea for Study Hall (and many of the stats and definitions)
Nick Bottomley, whose nba stats API project made it possible to automate the statistical breakdowns for every game