Can Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving's Dallas Mavs Take Advantage of Favorable West Bracket?

The Dallas Mavericks are preparing to take on the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and it looks like they'll be able to avoid playing the defending-champion Denver Nuggets until at least the conference finals.

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As the Dallas Mavericks prepare to taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Sunday's regular-season finale, they don't have much to play for since they're already locked into the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, setting up first-round date with the Los Angeles Clippers.

"We're looking forward to that challenge," said Mavs star guard Kyrie Irving.

Because of this, Dallas is resting over half its roster, with Luka Doncic, Irving, Maxi Kleber, Dereck Lively II, Dante Exum, Daniel Gafford, Derrick Jones Jr. and P.J. Washington all being shelved until the playoffs begin next weekend.

In the meantime, though, the Mavs can continue to prepare for their third playoff meeting with the Clippers in five years, and with the way the rest of the West bracket is looking going into the final day of the season, things could be breaking in Dallas' favor.

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Nikola Jokic and the defending-champion Denver Nuggets had full control of the No. 1 seed in the West until they lost to Victor Wembanyama's lottery-bound San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Now, the No. 1 seed will more than likely end up being either the Thunder or the Minnesota Timberwolves. Although the Mavs have the star power and the overall roster talent to take down any team in a seven-game series, it would probably work in their favor to avoid the Nuggets as long as they can.

If OKC or Minnesota ends up being the No. 1 after Sunday's final slate of games, the soonest Dallas could potentially face Denver would be in the Western Conference Finals. Although that route might be the most favorable for the Mavs, they aren't really worried about who they face or when they face them. They just know "the job isn't finished" and want to continue to play the same way they have over the last two months leading into the postseason.

“We know the job isn’t finished and we’re just getting started," Irving said. "We’ve done it in the regular season, that’s good and dandy, but now this is where the grown-ups start to use their IQ, start to use their emotional intelligence, their physical intangibles, and may the best man win.”