Doncic Stresses Need For Home-Court In Playoffs

Dallas Mavericks squarely in mix for top four seed in West

Grant Afseth | Mar 8, 2022

The Dallas Mavericks (40-25) and Utah Jazz (40-24) find themselves in the midst of a heated race for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. The stakes? Gaining home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

Utah holds a 2-1 advantage in the regular season series with the Mavericks after Dallas walked away with a 111-103 victory on Monday. With one more matchup coming on Mar. 27 – giving the Mavs a chance to even things up and essentially control their own destiny – Dallas only trails Utah by a half-game in the standings.

Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic vs. Donovan Mitchell

Dallas Mavericks vs. Utah Jazz

How would home-court advantage impact the Mavericks? Luka Doncic thinks it would be a big deal to open the playoffs at home – one of the few things he has yet to do in his young, decorated career.

“I mean it’s different. I think four and fifth spot is a lot of difference," Doncic said. "When you’re four you have the home advantage and that’s a big thing. We never had it since I’ve been here. So, I think we’re trying to get the home advantage for sure.”

Doncic led the Mavericks to consecutive playoff appearances over the last two seasons with two different circumstances in each. The first series came against the LA Clippers in the NBA Bubble, while the other featured the Clippers yet again with Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) not at full capacity.

Luka Doncic, NBA Playoffs, Dallas Mavericks, LA Clippers, Kawhi Leonard — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Kawhi Leonard & Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic vs. LA Clippers

Luka Doncic in 2021 NBA Playoffs

The Mavericks had their own home-court advantage in a way last year, with Texas allowing full-capacity crowds. However, Dallas was still the lower-seeded team that received three home games to the Clippers' four, and ultimately that played a big role in LA winning the series in seven.

All playoff games are set to have full capacity crowds with many markets dropping mask mandates. Loud playoff crowds will be present once again as a result, and the Mavericks would like nothing more than to begin their postseason journey in front of raucous fans at American Airlines Center.

Published Mar 8, 2022

GRANT AFSETH

Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for MavericksGameday.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth). You can reach Grant at grantafseth35@gmail.com.