As it turns out for the Mavericks in late-game situations, the best things in life are not free.
Not when it comes to free throws, anyway, because they have turned out to be very costly to a team that can't afford to throw away easy points.
Overall, the Mavericks are a decent free-throw team, hitting more than 77 percent, which puts them 12th in the NBA.
But the eye test reveals more.
If it seems like they have missed more critical free throws in crunch time than they should, it's because they have.