It’s been an up-and-down year for the Dallas Mavericks, and the team will look to continue one of the year’s biggest highs as it carries a seven-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s road game against the Golden State Warriors.
Dallas has not lost since March 14 and has used the winning streak to climb into fifth place in the Western Conference, two games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for fourth place with eight games remaining in the regular season.
The team is now 17-6 since the February 8 NBA Trade Deadline, which added Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington to the squad, and it will face three teams under .500 in its remaining games.
“We’re just not satisfied,” guard Kyrie Irving told the media after Sunday’s win over the Houston Rockets. “We know where we are positioning-wise, and we know what we’re fighting for, so we just want to continue to put our best foot forward game-to-game and take it one minute at a time. That’s all we can do.”
The winning streak includes four consecutive road wins, with the last three coming against teams still alive in the chase for the postseason. The Mavericks will now play the Warriors, the current No.10 seed in the West, twice in the next three days, leaving little room for error.
“Golden State is fighting a playoff spot,” head coach Jason Kidd remarked after Sunday’s win. “They’re playing well. They’ve been in this situation, so it should be a good test for us.”
Tuesday’s game is a makeup game from January 19, after the original matchup was postponed due to the sudden death of a Warriors’ assistant coach. The Mavericks (45-29) will host the Warriors (40-34) at the American Airlines Center on Friday night.
“Being our last game [of the trip], we can’t look forward to going home,” Kidd added. “[We’ve] got to continue to be pros and understand where we stand and what we’re fighting for.”
Dallas is 1-0 against Golden State this season, with a 132-122 win over the Warriors in December.
