NBA Play-In Race: What’s at Stake For Mavs on Saturday

DallasBasketball.com takes a look at the Western Conference standings and how things could shift for the Dallas Mavericks depending on how Saturday night’s NBA action goes.

"We just got to win games. That's it.”

Those words from Luka Doncic came after the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night despite leading heading into the 4th quarter. 

Although he’s right, the Mavs no longer control their own destiny and will need help from other teams in order to secure a postseason spot.

Sitting in the 11th spot in the Western Conference standings, Dallas is a half-game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the final play-in spot. With a win over the Miami Heat on Saturday, the Mavs can pull even with the Thunder, but they’ll still be 11th due to OKC owning the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Mavs are also just one game back of the No. 9 Minnesota Timberwolves and two games back of the No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans and No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers in the loss column with five games remaining.

Aside from Dallas’ matchup with Miami, the only other NBA action on Saturday night is the Pelicans taking on the Los Angeles Clippers, who are jockeying for seeding positioning with the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns. If the Clippers beat the Pelicans, the Mavs can make up a full game in the standings with a win over Miami.

“We still have chances, so we shouldn’t give up yet,” Doncic said.

Before the Mavs can worry about play-in seeding, they must first take care of their own games. Doing so would keep the chance alive of qualifying. Otherwise, a loss against the Heat would make the pathway all the more challenging.

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