It might not be an exaggeration to say that parity is at an all-time high in the NBA. With the NBA playoffs on the horizon, seeding is still very much up-in-the-air, especially in the Western Conference, where seeds two-through-seven are separated by single-digit games.
The Dallas Mavericks (47-29) are hoping to capture home-court advantage in the playoffs for the first time since the 2011 championship season. For Dallas to accomplish that feat, though, it must keep winning while also getting some help from other teams slipping up. DallasBasketball.com’s Mavs Playoff Tracker will keep you updated on everything happening in the West standings on a nightly basis.
MARCH 29: MAVS THROTTLE LAKERS; JAZZ IMPLODE VS. CLIPPERS
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Paul George steals the ball from Donovan Mitchell.
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Luka Doncic had his way with the Lakers’ defense on Tuesday.
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Jason Kidd called LeBron James the “greatest of all-time.”
Tuesday night was another good one for the Mavs, as it started with a nationally televised beatdown of the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers (31-44), 128-110. Dallas has now won two games in a row after being embarrassed in Minnesota over the weekend and is in full control of the fourth seed in the Western Conference standings.
As the Mavs took care of their own business, the Utah Jazz (45-31) did the exact opposite. Utah was up by 25 points against the Los Angeles Clippers (37-39) in the third quarter on Tuesday, but ended up losing the game 121-115. Paul George made a triumphant return from a three-month injury absence to put up 34 points in 31 minutes.
The Jazz continue to tailspin, having now lost five games in a row and six out of their last 10. With just six games remaining in the NBA regular season, Dallas is feeling pretty good about having a two-game lead over both the Jazz and the Denver Nuggets in the standings. The Mavs are also just one game back of the Golden State Warriors for the third seed and could overtake them as soon as Wednesday night.
MARCH 26: MAVS BIG SHOWDOWN WITH JAZZ; WOLVES VS. CELTICS
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Although the Mavs (45-29) weren’t able to beat the Timberwolves (43-32) for the second time in one week on Friday night, they still sit three games ahead of Minnesota in the loss column with just eight games to go.
Now, Dallas will set its focus on the Jazz – the team that will be at American Airlines Center on Sunday evening for a big game with potential playoff implications. The Mavs and Jazz are currently tied in the Western Conference standings, so the winner of Sunday’s game will have sole possession of fourth-place. The Jazz have lost three-straight games and will be just as motivated as the Mavs will be to bounce back into the win column.
Some good news for the Mavs is that things aren’t necessarily getting any easier for the two teams chasing them in the West. The surging Celtics, who helped the Mavs out by blowing out the Jazz this week, take on the Timberwolves on Sunday. Boston has won five in a row and nine of its last 10 games. Minnesota also has a head-to-head matchup with the Denver Nuggets on April 1. The result of that one will be a win for Dallas either way.
MARCH 22: OUTLOOK FOR MAVS, JAZZ, WOLVES, NUGGETS
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Luka Doncic challenges Karl-Anthony Towns.
Luka Doncic throw an alley-oop over Donovan Mitchell.
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Nikola Jokic with his buddy Luka Doncic.
With just 10 regular season games remaining, nothing is settled in the Western Conference playoff race aside from the Phoenix Suns being the top seed. And although there are scenarios where the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors stumble out of the second and third-seeds, it’s more likely that those two will continue jockeying for position there among themselves.
However, when you look at fourth-through-seventh in the West, things are still pretty wide open. In order, here’s what the standings currently look like in that range:
4) Jazz (45-27)
5) Mavs (44-28) — 1.0 games back
6) Nuggets (42-30) — 3.0 games back
7) Timberwolves (42-31) — 3.5 games back
According to Tankathon.com, the Jazz (4th) and Wolves (8th) have some of the toughest remaining strength of schedules, whereas the Nuggets (18th) and Mavs (28th) appear to be catching a little bit of a break as the season inches to a close.
After they take on the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, the Mavs have a big weekend ahead with head-to-head matchups against the Wolves and Jazz on Friday and Sunday. Meanwhile, Minnesota plays Phoenix on Wednesday and Utah plays the Boston Celtics. If Dallas takes care of business in this final stretch, it could secure home-court advantage in the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
MARCH 19: MAVS STUMBLE; WOLVES SURGING
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The Mavs will have their hands full trying to contain Karl-Anthony Towns this week.
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Despite 37 points through just three quarters, Luka Doncic couldn’t make up for the Mavs shortcomings against the Hornets.
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The Mavs have lost consecutive games for the first time since February 2.
As much talk as there’s been about the Mavs potentially overtaking the Jazz for home-court advantage or even catching the Warriors for third-place in the West with Steph Curry out for multiple weeks, an untimely two-game losing-streak has them uncomfortably close to the Play-In Tournament as well.
With just 11 games remaining, Dallas is 43-28, which is still good for fifth-place in the West. The Mavs are just 1.5 games back of the Jazz for fourth-place; They’re also just 1.5 games ahead of the seventh-place Timberwolves, who have won four in a row and nine of their last 10 games coming into American Airlines Center on Monday night.
The Mavs still have a big head-to-head with the Jazz coming up on March 27, but before they get to that point, they need to first take care of business against Minnesota. This week, Dallas will play the Wolves two times — Monday and Friday night — with a game against the lowly Houston Rockets sandwiched in between. To say this week of basketball for the Mavs is large would be a major understatement.
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MARCH 17: STEPH CURRY WILL MISS SIGNIFICANT TIME FOR WARRIORS
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The Mavs were victorious over the Celtics on Sunday.
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The Mavs went 3-1 against the Warriors this season.
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Spencer Dinwiddie nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
As the Dallas Mavericks capped off a euphoric buzzer-beating win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night to up their record to 43-26, the Golden State Warriors did not have such luck against the Boston Celtics.
Losing to the Celtics 110-88 at home was already bad enough, but the Warriors also lost Steph Curry to a foot/toe injury he suffered when Marcus Smart dove for a loose ball with Curry nearby. Curry is expected to be out “indefinitely” – one report suggests three weeks – which is essentially the remainder of the regular season.
Although the Mavs’ focus lately has been on catching the Jazz for the fourth seed in the West, perhaps the third seed isn’t out of question now either, as Dallas is just 3.5 games back of the Warriors with 13 games left. The Mavs also own the tiebreaker with the Warriors after winning the season series 3-1.
MARCH 15: GRIZZLIES KEEP WINNING; WOLVES LOSE KEY PLAYER
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The Wolves will be without Jaden McDaniels for at least two weeks due to an ankle injury.
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Jaren Jackson Jr. dunks on the Pacers as the Grizzles win their fourth game in a row.
The Mavs take on the Nets on Wednesday, although this time there is no James Harden or Kristaps Porzingis.
On a relatively quiet evening – for the Mavs’ playoff race, not the NBA overall, as Kyrie Irving dropped 60 points for the Brooklyn Nets just a night after Karl-Anthony Towns did the same – the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Indiana Pacers for their fourth win in a row. Memphis remains a half-game ahead of the Golden State Warriors for the second-seed and a full five games ahead of the Mavs in the West standings.
Another development on Tuesday that could potentially affect the Mavs is the injury status of Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels. The Wolves announced that McDaniels suffered a right ankle sprain against the Spurs on Monday that will keep him out of action for at least two weeks, meaning that he’ll miss Minnesota’s two upcoming games against the Mavs on March 21 and March 25.
The Mavs are three full games up on the Wolves in the standings with 14 games left.
MARCH 14: MAVS EVEN THINGS UP WITH JAZZ; TOWN DROPS 60, JOKIC OUT-DUELS EMBIID
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Luka Doncic is playing at an MVP level as the Mavs close in on home-court.
The Mavs defeated the Jazz in their last matchup, 111-103.
Utah and Dallas will face off one more time on March 27th — and potentially in the postseason as well.
It was a great night of NBA basketball, as the stars were shining everywhere you looked. As far as the Mavs’ playoff race goes, two teams behind them in the standings — the Nuggets (1.5 games back) and the Wolves (3.0 games back) — got big wins on Monday night. Denver beat Philadelphia as Nikola Jokic out-dueled Joel Embiid, and Karl Anthony Towns dropped an NBA season-high 60 points in Minnesota’s win over the Spurs.
The Jazz, however, fell to the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, putting them even with the Mavs in the West standings with a 42-26 record. With the Jazz playing the Bulls next, and the Mavs playing the Nets without Kyrie, Dallas could have sole possession of the fourth-seed by Wednesday night.
MARCH 13: MAVS WIN BIG IN BOSTON; GRIZZ BEAT OKC
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Luka Doncic celebrates a big win.
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Spencer Dinwiddie came up clutch in the Mavs’ win over the Celtics.
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Luka Doncic dives on Robert Williams.
There wasn’t much happening on Sunday that directly related to the Mavs’ personal playoff-seeding race aside from their big 95-92 win against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, but their was one other game we were keeping tabs on.
The Memphis Grizzlies took on the OKC Thunder on the road, and despite a valiant effort from the home team, Memphis ultimately came away with a 125-118 win to remain a half-game ahead of the Golden State Warriors for the second-seed and 4.5 games ahead of the Mavs, who are still in the fifth-seed spot.
Dallas climbed back to within a half-game of the Jazz for home-court advantage with its win at Boston. Utah plays games against the Bucks and Bulls between now and Wednesday.
MARCH 12: WOLVES, JAZZ BOUNCE BACK; NUGGETS LOSE TO RAPTORS
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Nikola Jokic wasn’t enough for the Nuggets to hold off the Raptors.
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Karl-Anthony Towns helps the Wolves bounce back vs. the Heat.
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A shorthanded Jazz squad beat the Kings after losing to the Spurs the night before.
The NBA playoff race continues to tighten for the Mavs. On Saturday night, the Timberwolves bounced back from a disappointing loss to the Magic the night before by beating the Miami Heat. The Jazz, who were without Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley a night after losing to the Spurs, also bounced back with a win over the Kings. The Denver Nuggets stumbled in a loss to the Toronto Raptors.
With just 15 games remaining, the Mavs are now one full game behind the Jazz for the fourth-seed. Dallas is 1.5 games ahead of Denver and three full games ahead of Minnesota.
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Luka Doncic celebrates a 3-pointer in a win over the Rockets.
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Dwight Powell scored a career-high-tying 26 points on Friday night.
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Dwight Powell slams one home as the Rockets look on.
MARCH 11: MAVS BEAT ROCKETS, JAZZ AND WOLVES SLIDE
After losing in disheartening fashion to the New York Knicks on Wednesday, the Mavs quickly put that behind them and bounced back with a 113-100 win over the worst-in-the-West Houston Rockets on Friday night. Luka Doncic, Dwight Powell and Spencer Dinwiddie combined to score 72 points with Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith out with minor injuries.
Two other teams close to the Mavs in the standings – the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves – lost on Friday, giving Dallas’ win even more meaning. The Wolves, who had been surging lately, surprisingly dropped a game to the lowly Orlando Magic, while the Jazz lost a close game to the San Antonio Spurs.
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Donovan Mitchell attacks the rim.
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Karl-Anthony Towns secures a rebound against the Magic.
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Utah’s loss helped Gregg Popovich pass Don Nelson as the NBA’s all-time winningest coach.
With all that transpired, the Mavs are now just 0.5 games back of the Jazz for the fourth-seed in the West. Dallas also increased its cushion over the Wolves to 3.5 games. With 15 games remaining, things could get even more interesting in a hurry, as the Mavs still have two more head-to-head matchups with the Wolves and one more with the Jazz.
The Mavs are off until they take on the red-hot Boston Celtics in a Sunday matinee game at TD Garden, but they’ll surely be keeping their eyes on Utah and Minnesota again on Thursday night, as both teams will be playing on a second night of a back-to-back. The Denver Nuggets, who trail the Mavs by just one game, take on the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night as well.
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