Mavericks Accomplish Road Goal Despite Poor Ending

Two-game losing streak doesn't define successful five-game trip

The Dallas Mavericks enter Monday's matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves riding a two-game losing streak to end a five-game road trip. Still, the Mavs still finished they key stretch 3-2. 

Before the Mavericks traveled to take on the Houston Rockets to begin the trek, coach Jason Kidd said the goal was to finish "above .500" as coach Jason Kidd explained. Mission accomplished. 

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Luka Doncic vs. Hornets

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Luka Doncic Makes Pass vs. Hornets

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Dallas Mavericks vs. Charlotte Hornets

“We ended this trip on a positive in a sense of going 3-2, so there’s a lot of good things to take away,” Kidd said after the 129-108 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. “We’re not just focused on one game. This is a journey of playing 82 (regular-season games) to prepare for the playoffs.

“There’s some good things that we did do in this game and there’s a lot of things that we can do better. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, so now we’ve got to get home and protect home.”

In the 111-101 loss at Philadelphia on Friday, there was real struggles to contain Joel Embiid and the 76ers' size advantage. The Sixers also adjusted to the Mavs' use of zone after previously being slowed by that defensive strategy. 

In the loss to the Hornets, the Mavericks couldn't get enough stops and the offense couldn't get it going outside of 37 points and 3s from Luka Doncic. 

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Jalen Brunson vs. 76ers

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Spencer Dinwiddie vs. 76ers

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Dallas Mavericks vs. Philadelphia 76ers

“We were 3-2 on this road trip, which is not bad at all,” Doncic said. “We just got to continue to play like we can. We have great players. Sometimes you just can’t win. These two games, we didn’t play as good as we wanted, but we’ll bounce back.”

The Mavericks rank fifth in the Western Conference and hold a 1.5-game lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves. There is now a two-game gap between Dallas and the Utah Jazz for the fourth spot. 

The Mavs can impact the standings with two games against the Timberwolves this week and with the Jazz coming up. First-round home-court advantage is still doable for Dallas.