INDIANAPOLIS — During last season's NBA All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City, no team made more headlines than Dallas.
But here in Indianapolis on All-Star weekend this season? Little was said about the Mavericks.
The Mavericks went 31-29 last season and entered the hiatus after losing three straight, just five games into the Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving era. They were the only franchise to field two All-Star starters.
This year's Mavericks are 32 wins and 23 losses. Along with Boston, they currently hold the NBA's longest winning streak at six games. Dallas is 3-0 since acquiring Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington, and has recently been strengthened by the injury returns of Irving, Derek Lively II and Maxi Kleber.
And Dante Exum, who has missed 19 of the past 21 games, appears to be on the verge of returning.
Clearly, there's reason to be a lot more bullish about Dallas' post-All-Star chances than I was right now last season.
“It's about us and everyone in the locker room and continuing to work on our off days,” Irving said of the winning streak. “And then doing the little things to get ready to play as many minutes as the coach asks.
“As we mature, I think we’re going to see some very successful basketball in the sense that we’re really established in our roles.”
But what about it? At last season's All-Star break, the Mavericks were in sixth place in the Western Conference.
They currently sit in seventh place, just one game behind fifth-place Phoenix, with both teams having 27 games remaining and Dallas being the team to call home on Thursday night.
“It's a good test for us,” Suns forward Kevin Durant said after East's 211-186 win in the All-Star Game Sunday night. “They have been playing well lately. They have some new players in their team that will challenge us.
“It was a great game to start the second half of the season.”
The longest Mavericks-related All-Star weekend comment by a non-Dallas player was Nikola Jokic saying after his buddy Doncic's seven-point performance, “Luka is really bad in this game. He's 100% worse than me. .”
Perhaps Doncic, with his stated disdain that no one will challenge defense in the All-Star Game, wants the Mavericks to stay out of the spotlight unlike last year in Salt Lake City, where Irving scored an All-Star-record 32 points. I guess he also wanted to do that. He had a point, 15 assists and seven rebounds.
Doncic did nothing in Indianapolis to raise his profile in the Most Valuable Player discussion, but he wasn't the only All-Star to play listlessly.
Additionally, his MVP chances will largely depend on his ability to maintain averages of 34.2 points, 9.5 assists, and 8.5 rebounds, and whether Dallas attempts to move up the conference standings.
The Mavericks were just 2.5 games behind No. 3 Sacramento during last season's hiatus, but have been a buzzkill since the break.
They lost six of their next nine games and 10 of their next 15. After the hiatus, they finished with a record of 6 wins and 15 losses, falling from last year's Western Conference finalists to being eliminated from the postseason.
If they can stay relatively healthy for the remaining 27 games — which is by no means a given considering how this season has played out — they could end up with a near-50-win season rather than repeating last season's slump. seems much higher.
If the former happens, the lack of buzz surrounding them here in Indianapolis will be as inconsequential as Sunday's All-Star Game itself.
