Magic Johnson puts West 'on notice' about dark-horse contender

Unlike previous iterations of Mavericks teams in the Luka Doncic era, this year's group is not deficient in size, rebounding or defense — key ingredients to a winning ball club. Dallas addressed those needs with the acquisitions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford ahead of the NBA trade deadline, though the development of rim-rolling lottery pick Dereck Lively II has also been a contributing factor.

The Mavs front office is starting to reap the fruits of those moves. Since the All-Star break, Dallas has outrebounded and out-hustled opponents. They did so again when it hosted Denver on Sunday to set the stage for an all-time buzzer-beater against the reigning NBA champs.

While Kyrie Irving was hailed the hero of the Mavs' 107-105 victory, a closer look at the box sheet suggests that Jason Kidd's team won the game on the glass, outrebounding Denver 60-37. Amazingly, 22 of those 60 boards came on the offensive glass as Dallas punished Denver with its athleticism and speed, providing multiple second-chance scoring opportunities. 

The Mavs' recent surge has propelled two analysts to call them "the scariest team" out West, and now a Hall of Famer agrees. In the aftermath of Dallas' win on Sunday, Magic Johnson cautioned the rest of the conference to not take Doncic & Co. lightly when the playoffs roll around next month. 

"I want to put the Western Conference on notice - the Dallas Mavericks, coached under HOF Jason Kidd, are a different team with new additions of Washington, Lively, and Gafford. Watch out for them in the playoffs!" Johnson wrote on X.

On paper, the Mavs still have a ways to go before making noise in the postseason. First, they need to secure the No. 6 seed to avoid the play-in tournament, or at least lock up No. 7 or No. 8 to get two cracks at reaching a seven-game series. Otherwise, they risk missing out on the postseason by virtue of a sudden-death elimination game, potentially against the Kevin Durant-led Suns, Stephen Curry-led Warriors or LeBron James-led Lakers. 

Dallas (39-29) is currently tied for sixth in the West with Phoenix (39-29) and Sacramento (38-28), all 2.5 games back of the New Orleans Pelicans for fifth. 

The Mavericks already hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Suns. However, sitting 0-2 to the sixth-seeded Kings (38-28), the Mavs may struggle to leapfrog Sacrmaneto without beating De'Aaron Fox & Co. in their remaining two games on March 26 and 29.