Dallas Mavs Clinch Top 10 Seed in West; New York Knicks Defeat Sacramento Kings

The Dallas Mavericks got a much-needed bounce-back win against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night, and they also got some help from old friend Jalen Brunson with the New York Knicks defeating the Sacramento Kings.

Dalton Trigg | Apr 4, 2024

Apr 4, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) and guard Kyrie Irving (11) / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

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As the NBA regular season winds down, many teams still have a lot to play for when it comes to postseason positioning. So much parity in the league creates competitiveness that didn't used to exist in these end-of-the-season games.

The Dallas Mavericks came into Thursday night's action having sole possession of the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference by half a game. After a 109-95 win over the Atlanta Hawks, the Mavs now have a one-game lead over the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans for the No. 5 seed.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Although the Suns and Pelicans are still right behind the Mavs, Dallas was able to get two games of separation between themselves and the No. 8 seed thanks to Jalen Brunson's New York Knicks coming back from being down 21 points and taking down the Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden.

The positive night for Dallas might not be over, as the Denver Nuggets play the Los Angeles Clippers in the TNT night cap game. With a Nuggets win, the Mavs would only be one game behind the Clippers in the loss column for homecourt advantage with the No. 4 seed.

The Mavs are back in action against the Golden State Warriors on Friday night with both teams playing on a second night of a back-to-back. Other games on Friday that will mean something to Dallas include: Sacramento Kings at Boston Celtics, New Orleans Pelicans vs. San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns vs. Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Clippers vs. Utah Jazz.

Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for more standings updates heading into the weekend.

Published Apr 4, 2024

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.