Sad News: Dallas Mavericks Star Shock Fans’ After Mavericks Star Announced A Retirement After 10 Years In NBA….
The Dallas Mavericks are in the midst of their most crucial juncture of the season, as they are currently the eighth seed in the Western Conference with 15 games remaining in the regular season. The Mavericks have picked up their intensity on both sides of the ball recently, and some changes in the rotation by Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd helped propel Dallas to a four-game winning streak before Thursday’s loss to Oklahoma City.
This has put the Mavericks in a position to rise in the standings, as their hopes of getting out of play-in territory started to look bleak when the Mavericks lost five out of seven contests coming out of the All-Star break.
While the Mavericks have taken care of business lately, they haven’t had the toughest strength of schedule. However, Dallas is set to have multiple matchups against top eight-seeded Western Conference opponents in their remaining 15 games, so we’ll certainly start to get an idea of how competitive the Mavericks can be in the playoffs during this final stretch.
3 teams the Dallas Mavericks must avoid in the first round of the playoffs
The Mavericks must do everything in their power to escape play-in territory and get as far up in the standings as possible, as drawing any of the Western Conference’s top teams could lead to an early exit for Dallas in the playoffs. With that being said, here are three teams the Mavericks need to avoid in the first round of the playoffs.
Honorable Mention: Minnesota Timberwolves
Despite currently sitting at third place in the Western Conference, the Minnesota Timberwolves are showing some vulnerability as they approach the playoffs. Timberwolves’ big-man Karl-Anthony Towns recently underwent a procedure to repair a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee, an injury that will likely keep him out for the rest of the regular season as well as potentially some games during the playoffs.
However, the Timberwolves are extremely versatile from top to bottom, and they still maintain the best defensive rating in the NBA at 108.3. The Timberwolves are 2-2 ever since Karl-Anthony Towns got injured, but Anthony Edwards seems to have kicked himself into another gear on both sides of the ball ever since the Towns injury.
The Mavericks went 1-3 against Minnesota this season, but all four games that the two squads played against each other were before the trade deadline. Dallas has much better positional size and defense in their front-court now, so Minnesota may not be the worst matchup in round one when you take into consideration their lack of playoff experience as a group as well as the Towns injury.
The Mavericks can’t make the make the mistake of underestimating Minnesota’s stifling defense though, and would need to prepare thoroughly if they drew them as a matchup in the first round of the playoffs.
Last night, the Dallas Mavericks’ four-game winning streak was snapped against the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road. Luka Doncic missed this game with hamstring soreness, but he could return to the lineup on Sunday.
Even without Doncic, the Mavs were competitive against the Thunder. They only lost by seven points, and Kyrie Irving put on a show, finishing with 36 points, 12 assists, and two steals while shooting 12-18 from the field, 4-7 from downtown, and 8-8 from the free-throw line.
This is the best game that Irving has had in over a month, and he looked great as a shooter, finisher, and passer in this game. He arguably outplayed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in this game, and if Irving can play like this consistently, the Mavs can hang with anyone.
Mavericks star Kyrie Irving reveals how he actually feels about playing for Team USA
Shifting our attention from Thursday night’s game, there is some new intel on Irving’s potential reunion with Team USA for the 2024 Olympics in Paris this summer. It has already been reported that Irving is interested in playing for Team USA this summer, but an NBA Insider gave a revealing update on Irving and Team USA on Friday morning.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Irving has a “deep desire” to play for Team USA this summer. Charania also reported that Irving’s relationships and history with him and LeBron James and Kevin Durant will also factor into him potentially being on this squad.
Irving won a championship with James in Cleveland in 2016 and played multiple seasons with Durant in Brooklyn. It’s clear that Irving would like to play with LeBron again, and the 2024 Olympics could be the perfect chance for them to do this.
