Mavericks: Playoff Push Must Begin Now
The Dallas Mavericks have reached an easier stretch of the remaining schedule and have no more margin for error if a Western Conference playoff berth is going to happen.
The Dallas Mavericks rested key starters during Friday night’s game of long-distance H-O-R-S-E at Oracle Arena against the Golden State Warriors – they actually came closer to winning the game than many probably expected. It was a spirited effort, which included recent acquisition David Lee getting his championship ring from last season while with the Warriors.
Enough about that.
The Mavericks, currently tied with the Houston Rockets at the bottom of the conference playoff bracket have no more games to give away. Not that there’s any blame to be placed on head coach Rick Carlisle for mailing it in against ‘The Threes.’ I’m not sure I would have even shown up had I planned on resting players like Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams and Devin Harris. Ignoring Golden State was the right thing to do.
Moving ahead, there’s no more room for that.
For a team that’s now without Chandler Parsons for the rest of the season and currently sitting on the edge of the early offseason cliff, the Mavericks will need all hands on deck just have a shot at extending their season. Missing the playoffs won’t do the team any good because there’s no draft picks to worry about positioning for – not that the horrid NBA Lottery has ever done the Mavericks as much as a single favor through the worst of times.
This Dallas team is right in the middle of great and awful – think Dallas Cowboys circa 2011-2013 under aspiring head coach Jason Garrett. Those teams were a perfectly incapable 24-24. The Mavericks are quite similar at just 35-37. Sunday’s heroic 40-point performance against the Portland Trail Blazers seems like it was last month. Since that time, Dallas has lost to Rip City and Golden State. For the month of March, the Mavs have just three wins.
Three.
No, the schedule makers didn’t do the Mavericks very many favors, but all teams have their difficult stretches. This team entered the season with two key players returning from significant injuries suffered late last season, yet both were on the court as the season started. Just has things were turning around for one of them, another injury shakes this team up.
Those circumstances follow last summer’s embarrassing free agent signing period that has compelled the NBA to make adjustments to how this process begins, and rightly so.
Despite everything, the Mavericks are somehow still in the playoff race, even if their prospects for any kind of postseason accomplishments seem gloomy at best.
For this team to even qualify for the Western Conference playoffs would be a heck of an accomplishment, and now is the time Dallas can beat some teams that they should beat in order to do what few thought possible after Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan completely screwed the offseason for a conference rival, likely on purpose – the Clips will get buried soon enough.
The Mavericks still have a game remaining against Los Angeles, the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs before the regular season schedule is completed.
But there’s other teams that need to be handled right away.
Still playing four of their next five games on the road, the opponents during this stretch will determine how this season shapes up for Dallas. A crucial back-to-back begins Sunday with games against the Kings (28-44) in Sacramento and the Nuggets (31-42) in Denver. The Mavericks would be wise to take both, although the season doesn’t end if they don’t.
The Mavericks come home on Wednesday to face the New York Knicks (30-43).
In other words, the next three games include opponents who are not going to make the playoffs, so while victories against these teams isn’t exactly the kind of measuring stick that Dallas might want, that’s kind of how things are unfolding.
Opportunity won’t end with these teams, either. Next weekend will see two more road games against the Detroit Pistons (39-34)and the Minnesota Timberwolves (24-48). In this span, only Detroit is situated to make the playoffs if the season ended today.
There’s still time for the Mavericks to climb up the conference standings by a considerable margin, even if that only means grabbing the sixth seed, which would obviously push the Mavericks beyond a first-round meeting with Golden State, not that it matters a whole lot.
Next: Cowboys: Enough About Replacing Terrance Williams
Having said that, if a team is going to make a run at anything during the high-pressure postseason, an area where a veteran team like Dallas could do surprisingly well, playoff positioning and opportunity have to play a role. For the time being, these elements still remain for the Mavericks with only 10 games remaining.