Nobody ever said the stats are gospel. Thats a false premise.
Stats are numbers. Numbers are fact. Thus the numbers cannot lie.
I'll assume you mean "People can draw incorrect conclusions from the stats/numbers."
That is certainly true.
But if you think it through, the "+/-" only has value when there are variables involved.
If a coach plays 5 guys for 40 minutes, they will all have the same "+/-"
Not a lot of information there, other than whether the team should win more often than it loses.
But add a 6th player, who subs in for every one of the original 5.
All of a sudden, you have a solid concept of how well each of the 6 players contributes to scoring and defense, or how successful those 6 lineups are. And that provides a firm basis for discussion.
If one combination scores 80 points and gives up 60, while combo #2 scores 70 points and allows 70, it is reasonable to assert that combo #1 is more effective than combo #2. The more data, the stronger the evidence.