2019-20 Mavericks are the best away team ever relative to home record
When the Dallas Mavericks come to town, their games have been among the hottest tickets in basketball thanks to the young Luka Doncic.
Fans across the league are always going to be eager to watch a sensational star like the second-year guard. But what has been especially interesting is how much better this Dallas squad has played in their road games compared to when they have played at home in Texas.
The Mavericks currently have 16 wins and just six losses (.727 winning percentage) during their away games. But their games at American Airlines Center in Dallas have been less favorable. Their squad has 13 wins and 12 losses (.520 winning percentage) at home so far this season.
When subtracting the difference, their mark (20.7 percent) is surprisingly the largest in league history dating back to the merger with the BAA (Basketball Association of America) back in 1946-47.
For context, the previous largest mark over the course of a full 82-game season was from the Houston Rockets in 2005-06. They were 19-22 (.463 percent) on the road and 15-26 (.366) when playing at home. Houston stars Tracy McGrady (47 games played) and Yao Ming (57 games played) were both plagued with injuries that season.
But it is worth noting that their away vs. home differential (9.7 percent) is still less than half of what the Mavericks are currently doing in 2019-20.
Breaking it down further, Dallas is currently outscoring opponents by 7.1 points per 100 possessions on the road. That is good for the second-best net rating among all road teams this season. Compare that with their net rating at home (4.7), which currently ranks fourteenth-best in the league.
Meanwhile, their offensive rating on the road (117.8) is the best in the NBA.
While the correlation here does not necessarily equal causation, it is worth mentioning that Doncic is averaging 3.5 turnovers per game on the road but 4.7 turnovers per game at home. His assist-to-turnover rate has also been a lot better on the road (2.64) than it has been in Dallas (1.76) so far in 2019-20.
Also worth noting that the Top 3 squads on this list (Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns) are all current teams in the Western Conference. We are more than halfway through the season so it is no longer just small sample size theatre.
Alberto de Roa contributed research to this article