Dallas Basketball

Surprise Rise! Playoff-Clinching Mavs Move to 3rd in West After Warriors Loss

Who would've thought back in December that the Dallas Mavericks would be where they are with five games left in the season?

Dalton Trigg

Things are going as well as they possibly can be for the Dallas Mavericks as the NBA regular season winds down. Not only are the Mavs winning games ahead of the postseason – they've won three in a row and five of their last six with five games remaining – but they seem to be getting all the favorable breaks from other teams in the Western Conference standings as well.

On Wednesday night, Dallas (48-29) went into Cleveland and took down the Cavaliers (42-34) on the second night of a back-to-back, 120-112. Luka Doncic followed up his 34-point triple-double against the Lakers by nearly notching another one, as he finished with 35 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists against the Cavs. Dorian Finney-Smith also pitched in with a career-high 28 points.

Shortly after that game went final, the Minnesota Timberwolves (43-34) lost to the Toronto Raptors (44-32), which helped the Mavs officially clinch a playoff spot for the third-straight year.

USATSI_17992346
© David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic let’s out a yell in Cleveland.

USATSI_17992341
© David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Dorian Finney-Smith skies for a dunk.

USATSI_17992883_168395540_lowres

Doncic and Finney-Smith were the stars of the show on Wednesday.

Then, for the nightcap, the league-leading Phoenix Suns (62-14) did the Mavs one more favor by taking down the Golden State Warriors (48-29) on the road. With the loss, Golden State is now tied with Dallas in the West standings, but as the Mavs won the season series 3-1, they own the tiebreaker and move into third place.

Coach Jason Kidd suggested the team doesn't want to get too caught up in scoreboard-watching.

“I’m not worried about Minnesota losing or Denver losing or Golden State losing,” Kidd said. “We’re just trying to take care of what’s in front of us right now, and that was Cleveland.''

In the Mavs' remaining five games, only one is against a team with a winning record – a Sunday matinee game against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks (47-28).

USATSI_17992339
© David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Reggie Bullock knocks down a 3-pointer.

USATSI_17992340
© David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The smaller Jalen Brunson wrestles a rebound away from Lauri Markkanen.

USATSI_17992411_168395540_lowres
© David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Can Doncic finally get past the first round this season?

Of the Warriors' remaining five games, four of their opponents (Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans) still have a lot to play for, so there seems to be a good chance of the Mavs retaining the third seed if they can take care of business.

Regardless of where the Mavs ultimately end up in the playoff bracket, the team and fans alike should be proud of how this season has unfolded. Who would've thought in late December – when the Mavs fell to 16-18 – that they'd be nearly 20 games over .500 and be a top-three team in the West with just a handful of games to go?

Doncic, coach Jason Kidd and the rest of the crew won't be satisfied by just getting home-court advantage or a top-three seed, though. It's been 11 years since the Mavs have made it out of the first round. Anything short of winning a playoff series this year would be viewed as a disappointment for Dallas, despite the impressive rise to being one of the West's best.

The Mavs will now face old friend Kristaps Porzingis and the Washington Wizards (33-43) in D.C. on Friday night. Two more wins would give Dallas a 50-win season for first time since 2015.

“Going into Washington,'' Kidd said, "I’ll talk more with the staff about the timing of starting to talk about home court ... We fight for home court.''

Published
Dalton Trigg
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.

Home/News