With just a few weeks left in the regular season, the Dallas Mavericks have plenty to play for still in the tight Western Conference standings.
With a 39-29 record, they sit in 7th as of this writing, the same record as the 8th seeded Phoenix Suns. While a top 3 spot is likely out of reach this late into the season, staying out of the play-in bracket is very much still in play. They’re just 3.5 back of the 4th seeded Clippers and actually have a better record than the 38-28 6th seed Sacremento Kings, whom they play on the road twice before March comes to a close. Thanks to some late game heroics from stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Dallas is coming off what is undoubtedly their biggest win since the All Star break, a 107-105 victory at home over the defending champion Denver Nuggets, but they’re still just 7-6 since that break.
For the San Antonio Spurs, every win is a big win in what has been another trying season. Sunday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets doesn’t mean much for the Spurs as far as the standings go, but it could mean everything as far as their mentality goes. Wins have been few and far between this season, so picking one up is a reminder of the purpose of this process that they’re currently undergoing as the rebuild moves along. Truly back home at the Frost Bank Center tonight after 2 games in Austin, hopefully Victor Wembanyama and the boys get greedy and are able to make it two straight with a win over a team with everything to play for.
Kyrie Irving, a notorious Spurs’ killer, had a buzzer beater for the ages Sunday afternoon with the lefty hook shot that he threw up to hand Denver just their 2nd loss since the All Star break. Offensively, the 12 year guard remains capable of doing pretty much whatever he pleases on the basketball court, but it’s always felt as though he could get hurt at any moment. Dallas will need him healthy down the stretch if they want to avoid the Play-In tournament and make any sort of noise in the playoffs.
