The Dallas Mavericks took down the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday and are now firmly entrenched in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The Mavericks bounced back from two straight losses against the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers to improve to 32-28 in the season. With a strong finish, the team is poised to make a run to the playoffs.
Dallas is currently the ninth seed in the Western Conference standings and has a 4.5-game lead over the Phoenix Suns for a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The Mavericks are also only one game behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the fifth seed in the conference, which would result in the Mavericks avoiding the play-in tournament and guaranteeing themselves a spot in the playoffs.
Although the Mavericks have a difficult schedule to end the season, as their remaining opponents have a combined winning percentage of .505, the Clippers have an even harder schedule with their opponents.
These two teams are also scheduled to match up twice more to finish the season, with those games taking place on back-to-back nights on April 4 and 5.
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving acknowledged the difficulty in climbing out of the play-in tournament but said the team could make a run if they can stay committed every night.
“The way I feel about this team – I don’t want to say it’s similar to when we first started because we have a little different squad – but it’s the belief in each other, belief in our coaching staff, belief that guys can grow here, not just as thinkers on the court, but leaders in the locker room,” he said, per The Mavericks.
“It feels good that we can talk to each other about the little things and be honest about where we are in the season and try to put our best foot forward. Being very patient with where we are now, we have to put the aggression out there against our opponent and set ourselves up to try to crack that top six, top five and get some good playoff positioning. We know it’s going to be a tall task for us.”
The good news for the Mavericks is that multiple key players are expected to return to the floor over the coming weeks.
Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively, and Daniel Gafford are each scheduled to be re-evaluated within the next two weeks and could make returns to the court.
Just one of these players returning would make a significant difference for a team that has not been completely healthy in months, and all three players returning before the end of the regular season would be a significant benefit for this team before the playoffs.