DALLAS – Don't look now, but the Dallas Mavericks slowly making up ground in the Western Conference standings and in the latest NBA Power Rankings after their electric win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon.
Sitting at 39-29, the Mavs are just a half-game behind the Sacramento Kings for the sixth-seed in the West with two head-to-head matchups in Sacramento coming up in a little more than one week from now.
In the latest edition of NBA.com's Power Rankings, the Mavs moved up from No. 10 to No. 8 after Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving's late-game heroics lifted Dallas to its fifth win in six games.
"The Mavs have been on a roller coaster since Kyrie Irving returned from a six-game absence six weeks ago. They won their first seven games with Irving back, then lost five of six, and now they’ve won five of six, with the only loss having come in Oklahoma City without Luka Doncic. And they rebounded from that one by beating the champs on a ridiculous game-winner from Irving himself," John Schuhmann wrote.
"When the Mavs defend, they win. They shot less than 32 percent from 3-point range in all three of their wins last week, but with those three wins, they’re 19-0 (the only undefeated team) when they’ve allowed fewer than 112 points per 100 possessions."
During the Mavs' last six games, they've put up the fourth-best offensive rating (120.9) and the ninth-best defensive rating (110.3) while going 5-1. The only loss in that span came against the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on a second night of a back-to-back without Doncic playing. If the Mavs can keep up their high-level energy and effort, they shouldn't have any issues avoiding the Play-In Tournament this season.
“I feel like we match up with everybody well, especially on the defensive end," Irving said after hitting an insane left-handed buzzer-beater to give the Mavs a walk-off win over the Nuggets. "We have the ability to switch one through five and we also have a foundational defense we’ve been going through pretty much the whole season. ... We are gonna keep playing to our strengths and when it gets tough and we face a little adversity throughout the game, we’re able to slow the game down and throw it to the post or go to our comp plays.”
Next up, the Mavs will face three opponents they should definitely beat if they bring the correct energy and attention to detail. Dallas plays the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night, followed by two straight matchups with the Utah Jazz on Thursday night and next Monday.
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