NBA Power Rankings: Mavs Streak Ends, But Does Dallas Slide?

The Dallas Mavericks are officially at the halfway mark in their season, winning 23 of their first 41 games.

Their record so far is good enough to put the Mavs in fourth place in the Western Conference, just four games back of the first-place Denver Nuggets.

Their efforts this week, where the Mavs went 2-2, were enough to keep them at the No. 9 spot in Sports Illustrated's power rankings.

"A blowout loss at home ended the Mavericks’ season-long, seven-game winning streak," SI writes. "Boston decimated Dallas by nearly 30 points at American Airlines Center and Luka Dončić, the league’s leading scorer, finished with just 23 points. The Mavs bounced back a few nights later against the Pelicans with a 10-point victory at home but they lost to the Thunder on the road without Dončić (ankle) for the second game of a back-to-back Sunday."

Dončić's absence in the loss against an inferior Oklahoma City Thunder team once again shows how valuable he is to the team. The Mavs proved that they have potential to show that same spark they did a year ago with Dončić, but now it's about returning to that.

Dallas has a chance to return to its winning ways this week on a four-game road trip against the LA Clippers (Tue.), Los Angeles Lakers (Thu.) and Portland Trail Blazers (Sat & Sun.).

You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.