MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE — The Dallas Mavericks sit at 29-24 and have a record of 1-3 over their last 4 game stretch which is concerning because of how close the western conference playoff seedings are. It’s no mystery to what’s at stake and what the Mavericks are playing for with 1 month left to go in the regular season. Dallas clearly wants to make a play for the 6th seed to avoid the possibility of playing in the play-in tournament, which members of the team and owner Mark Cuban have been very critical of.
Regardless, Rick Carlisle has said on numerous occasions that the team will play the schedule that has been given without any excuses given. Dallas has been through a series of bad breaks that has delayed the overall development of the team and Carlisle understands that and knows his team is still learning new ways to win games consistently. The only caveat at this point is the reality that not much time remains in the regular season for the growth to take place, which makes every game from this point forward a must win game.
There are major playoff implications riding on tonight’s game against the 27-25 Memphis Grizzlies who are 1 game back from stealing the 7th seed right out of the Mavericks palms. If Dallas manages to lose this game, they will fall to the 8th seed and the likelihood of being participants in the play in tournament increases substantially.
The Memphis Grizzlies are 2-2 over their last 4 games and second year guard Ja Morant has averaged 20 points and 7 assists during that span, but the player the Mavericks should pay close attention to tonight on the defensive end is Jonas Valanciunas. Over their last 4 games Valanciunas has been a double-double machine averaging 24 points and 15 rebounds and scored 26 points and secured 14 rebounds in their win on Monday against the Chicago Bulls.
To say the least, the Mavericks interior defense will be challenged from start to finish tonight. The Grizzlies will attempt to bog down defenders like Kristaps Porzingis and Maxi Kleber with their explosive offensive approach and will look to set the tone the moment the game tips off.
Dallas’s record when trailing at the end of the first quarter is 10-21, 6-16 when trailing at the beginning of the second half, and 3-19 when trailing at the beginning of the fourth quarter. To find success the Mavericks must place emphasis on setting the tone and find ways to make the waters murky for a team like the Grizzlies that convert shots from the field at a high clip.
The road map to sustaining their playoff positioning is clear cut. On paper the Mavericks have one of the easiest remaining schedules out of all 30 teams in the NBA, but as we all know what’s on paper has zero significance once the first buzzer sounds. After their game tonight in Memphis, their next 5 games will be played at home hosting 2 of those games against the defending champs the Los Angeles Lakers which will be a challenge in itself if Lebron James and Anthony Davis return to the lineup.
It’s time for Dallas to start winning the games they should win because here in the near future competition will heat up and the Mavericks don’t want to be the proverbial dog being kicked when they’re down.
