Dallas Basketball

Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Lift Dallas Mavs Into NBA Power Rankings Top 5

It took 10 games, but people are starting to pay attention to the great basketball Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks are playing this season.

Dalton Trigg

In this story:

NEW ORLEANS – Coming of a no-doubter win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night, the Dallas Mavericks are now 8-2 through 10 games, and more people around the league are starting to take notice of the special things Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have been doing.

In NBA.com's latest Power Rankings, the Mavs are now fifth in the league, trailing only the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers.

"The Mavs still haven’t played a very tough schedule. Only two of their games have come against teams — Denver and Orlando — that also have winning records as we enter Week 4," John Schuhmann wrote. "That said, they can only play who’s on their schedule, they’re tied for the second-best record in the league. Plus, they got three relatively comfortable wins (including one in Orlando) last week."

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have elevated the Dallas Mavericks this season.
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have elevated the Dallas Mavericks this season / Dalton Trigg, DallasBasketball.com

Before the season began, many in the national media predicted that the Mavs would be a Play-In Tournament team at best. Although it's still early and a lot can happen between now and April, it appears that Dallas is primed to blow those predictions out of the water if it can stay healthy.

The Mavs currently hold the second-best offensive rating (121.8) in the league, and they're playing at a much faster pace (101.8) than what they've been used to in recent years. Doncic and Irving have looked like the second coming LeBron James and Irving during their Cleveland Cavaliers days, and everyone else on the roster is accepting of their roles, which is something that wasn't the cast last season.

Mark Cuban: No Luka, Kyrie Issues; Mavs Lacked Players 'Committed to Their Roles'

"I think we're playing unselfish basketball," Doncic said after the Mavs' latest win in New Orleans. "We're just sharing the ball. ... That's what we have to do [going forward]."

The Mavs continue their four-game road trip by playing the Pelicans once again at Smoothie King Center on Tuesday night. It will be the Mavs' third In-Season Tournament game. Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for pregame and postgame coverage.

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