Mavericks Bounce Back in Latest NBA Power Rankings

Dallas has rebounded from their early four-game losing stretch

Nov 27, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) brings the ball up court against the New York Knicks during the second quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks have responded strongly from losing four straight games earlier in the season with a 6-1 stretch, including going 4-1 without Luka Doncic with wins over the OKC Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and New York Knicks.

Those big wins have impressed some writers around the NBA, as the Mavs saw a consistent rise in recent power rankings.

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ESPN, 11th (Before Knicks Win): "Clutch statistics tend to have a wide variance. For the second straight season, the Mavs have served as an extreme example of this. It was a great development last season, when Dallas was a dominant closing team, ranking second in the league in clutch winning percentage (23-9, .719) and first in clutch offensive rating (127.1). That was in stark contrast to the Mavs' clutch struggles in 2022-23 following the trade for Kyrie Irving when Dallas lost 15 of 21 clutch games while limping into the lottery. The Mavs have reverted to that form early this season with a 3-7 clutch record. Dallas is 5-of-15 from the floor in the final minute with a one-possession margin. In contrast, the Mavs shot a league-best 55.2% in those situations last season. "

Andy Bailey, Bleacher Report, 7th: "Luka Dončić has missed five of the Dallas Mavericks' last six games, and his team has won four of the five absences. Much of the roster, including solid defenders such as P.J. Washington, Naji Marshall, Quentin Grimes, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford, deserves credit, but the lion's share has to go to Kyrie Irving. On the season, Irving is averaging 24.5 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.1 threes while shooting 46.6 percent from deep. And he's opened up a pretty comfortable lead over Dončić on the team's 2024-25 wins over replacement player leaderboard."

Kurt Helin, NBC Sports, 5th: "Mavericks fans, be thankful for depth. Luka Doncic has missed 5-of-6, but the Mavericks have won four of those five. Leading the way has been Naji Marshal, who is having a career year averaging 12 points a game with a .630 true shooting percentage well above the league average. Dallas has a key NBA Cup Game coming up next Tuesday: The Mavericks can’t win West Group C (the Warriors have clinched) but beat the Grizzlies and the Mavs will be 3-1 in group play with at least a +41 point differential (plus whatever they would add against Memphis). That likely is enough to advance."

USA Today, 11th (Before Knicks Win): "The Mavericks sought to address 3-point shooting with the addition of Thompson, but the Mavericks are 20th at 34.8% on 3s and 21st in made 3s per game (12.2). If the Mavs want to get back to the West finals and NBA Finals, that needs to improve."

Colin Ward-Henninger, CBS Sports, 9th: "The Mavs have now won five of six since an embarrassing loss to the Jazz, and that's not exactly a coincidence. P.J. Washington said the team got together after the Utah loss and talked about how they couldn't continue to go down that path. Message received, clearly. Dallas has played it by committee without Luka Doncic, with Washington, Naji Marshall, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Jaden Hardy among those stepping up to help out Kyrie Irving."

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