The Dallas Mavericks continue to command respect, winning seven of their last eight games while playing an inspired defense. With 12 games remaining in the regular season, the Mavs currently occupy the eighth seed in the Western Conference standings, but the fate of the sixth seed is in their hands. Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the guys just need to keep winning and everything else will take care of itself.
On Monday, NBA.com released its latest power rankings, and the Mavs put together a solid week of basketball, moving from No. 8 to No. 7. Dallas ranks as his fifth-best team in the West in these rankings as well.
Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic
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“The Mavs are 7-1 and rank third in defense (107.7 points per 100 possessions), but they still have a few good defensive games left to break out of the bottom 10 on this floor this season. “The eight games were fairly balanced in terms of the strength of the opponent's offense,” wrote John Schuman.
“Better defense can lead to more transition opportunities, and the Mavs had two great transition sequences in Thursday's win against the Jazz. One led to a lob by Derrick Jones Jr. , the other ended on a Kyrie Irving lob.'' The Mavs have had the league's second-biggest jump in both pace and transition points per game, and their fast-break points when Irving was on the floor. He averaged 16.4 points per 48 minutes, but only 14.8 fast break points. Follow 48 with him off the floor. ”
The Mavs are currently tied for losses with both the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. The Mavs hold the regular-season tiebreaker against the Suns, currently trailing 2-0 to the Kings in the tiebreaker, but have a chance to tie the game while holding a two-game lead over Sacramento in the West standings. be. Two games will be played this week. If they play their cards right, the Mavs could have home court advantage in the West. That's because the Mavs are just three games behind the Los Angeles Clippers, who have a .500 basketball record in their last 10 games. That's certainly a long shot, but if it happens, Doncic could secure his first MVP award.
Dallas continues to play well despite not being where it needs to be shooting 3-pointers, so shots are at a higher probability during this important road trip that begins against Utah in Salt Lake City. The Jazz are expected to start falling from deep on Monday night. With this game followed by two important games against the Kings, the Mavs will need to be careful not to overlook Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, and the rest of the fractious Jazz roster.
