Mavericks AM News: Loss At Denver Really Hurts

Final. 116. 73. 114. 79

The Dallas Mavericks played their third consecutive road game into overtime and might have lost the most critical game of the season at Pepsi Center.

The Dallas Mavericks committed a horrible turnover that eventually cost them a game they should have won. The final score of 116-114 against the Denver Nuggets is a game that the Mavs will wish that they had back soon enough.

Overtime has generally been a friendly place for the Mavericks this season, but it wasn’t at Pepsi Center on Sunday in Denver as the game should have ended in the closing seconds. Chandler Parsons attempted to throw the ball off of a Nuggets defender during an inbound pass that ended up staying inbounds, thus creating a surprising turnover with just 7.9 seconds left and a 106-104 Dallas lead. Denver scored on the fast break to send the game to overtime where the Mavericks lost and fell to 33-30 in the process.

The Mavericks hit 13 three-point shots in the fourth quarter that would have easily put this game out of reach if not for a 19-point opening quarter that prevented Dallas from pulling away in the final period as opposed to building a modest lead, only to let that evaporate in the closing seconds.

One thing for sure is that the Mavericks are about to realize their destination this season.

Dallas takes a two-game losing skid into a home meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at American Airlines Center. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30pm CST for a game that’s about as close as it gets to a must-win affair in the month of March.

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After the Clippers matchup, the Mavericks square off with the Detroit Pistons at AAC on Wednesday night and then the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon, still at home.

But then comes an interesting stretch that could really tell the Mavericks’ fate this season.

Beginning a week from Monday, Dallas travels to Charlotte to face the Hornets before arguably the most dangerous run of games this season. The Mavericks travel to Cleveland to play LeBron James and the Cavaliers on March 16, which kicks off a five-game stretch of conference leaders or the Portland Trail Blazers, who the Mavs play home and away on March 20 and 23.

Yes, Portland is key because those Trail Blazers are now tied with Dallas in record and currently hold the seventh seed in the Western Conference.

Depending on how these games go, the Mavericks could have firm grasp of the sixth seed in the Western Conference – or they could be outside of the playoff bracket altogether. The Houston Rockets currently occupy the eighth seed at 30-32, just 2.5 games behind Dallas.

Whatever this team has left in the tank, it will have to use every resource available just to keep their heads above water for the remainder of March. Those two games within a week against the Golden State Warriors look like a couple of trips in front of a firing squad with no bullet-proof vest to speak of.

The last time the Mavericks failed to miss the playoffs was the 2012-13 season. The team finished with a record of 41-41 that season and has yet to make significant strides towards relevancy in the Western Conference.

For perspective, the 2015-16 Mavs will have to finish with a record of 8-11 from here on out just to reach the same .500 record Dallas reached three years ago, and that wasn’t enough to make the postseason.

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The Mavericks will win more games, but they will have to win every game they’re supposed to in order to maintain a serious shot at the postseason – there’s no question that Dallas will lose several more games. But can this team hang in there long enough to continue its season once the schedule ends?

We’ll find out very soon.

Published on 03/07/2016 at 02:08 AM
Last updated at 03/07/2016 at 02:08 AM

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