The Mavericks didn’t just beat the odds during the final week before the All-Star break.
They obliterated them, took prevailing wisdom and slapped it up against the wall and got the last laugh on anybody who thought they would wilt without most of their key players.
And why wouldn’t they? Playing without Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford and, at times, P.J. Washington and Klay Thompson is a recipe for disaster.
But it wasn’t.
Instead, they won four of five games before the break to keep themselves in a much better position in the Western Conference standings, which now become daily mandatory viewing for teams and fans alike.
The Mavericks have 26 games left, roughly the final third of the season. Their schedule is not particularly daunting, although 14 of their remaining games are against teams presently sitting above .500.
Those teams all will be playing for something.
But it’s not nearly as hazardous as some teams below them. Phoenix has 28 games left and 20 of them are against winning teams. Sacramento, right below Dallas in the West standings at ninth, has 17 of its remaining 27 games against teams with above-.500 records.
And the teams above them, particularly the pair of Los Angeles teams, have some tough assignments ahead, too.
The Lakers play 19 of their remaining 30 games against winning teams. The Clippers, seeded fifth currently just behind the Lakers, have 18 of their 28 games against teams above .500.
To say the least, the standings are fluid.
The goal for the Mavericks is to try to avoid the play-in tournament that will decide playoff seeds seven and eight. The teams that finish the regular season in seventh through 10th place in each conference will play in the tournament to decide who gets into the actual playoffs.
The Mavericks are hoping they can string together a stretch like they had last season after the All-Star break, when they went 18-9. Put 18 wins together again down the stretch and their chances of avoiding the play-in are excellent.
And they are heading into the sprint to the regular-season finish line with some momentum based on the way they were able to grind out wins against Boston, Houston, Golden State and Miami in the days leading up to the break. The only hiccup was a one-point overtime loss to Sacramento.
After their 118-113 win over the Heat on Thursday, coach Jason Kidd said: “The energy and effort, the way they compete . . . big win before the break and now we can rest, regroup and get ready for the second half. We needed everybody who could score to score and they did tonight.”
There’s no way of knowing when the injured Mavericks are going to return. The only constant over the last couple weeks before the break was Kyrie Irving, who helped his team win the championship All-Star Game.
But if the players who are available continue to outwork their opponent nightly – that was their key to success before the break – good things usually happen. That’s the way it worked for Dante Exum, Kessler Edwards and O-Max Prosper, who were vital to the Mavericks’ staying afloat in the week before the break.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the teams vying for the fourth through eighth playoff spots in the West and what their remaining schedule looks like:
SEED, TEAM (record) Games left Vs. plus-.500 Vs. sub-.500
5. Lakers (32-20) 16 H, 14 R 19 11
6. Clippers (31-23) 12 H, 16 R 18 10
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7. Timberwolves (31-25) 12 H, 14 R 11 15
8. Mavericks (30-26) 12 H, 14 R 14 12
9. Kings (28-27) 14 H, 13 R 17 10
10. Warriors (28-27) 13 H, 14 R 13 14
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11. Suns (26-28). 14 H, 14 R 20 8
12. Spurs (23-29) 15 H, 15 R 18 12
X: @ESefko
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