Dallas Mavericks big men Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II are reportedly progressing toward a return as the team enters a crucial part of the 2024-25 season.
Davis and Lively are reportedly working to improve their injuries and could return to the court this season, though Bleacher Report reports that it “remains to be seen” if these efforts will help the players in time.
The Mavericks remain vague in their information about these injuries, raising concerns that the team may not be able to make a push for a playoff spot before their return to the court.
Dallas is currently 33-33 and sits in the 10th overall spot in the Western Conference standings, leading the Phoenix Suns by only 2.5 games heading into the final 16 games of the regular season.
Although Dallas has a solid lead over Phoenix for the final play-in tournament spot, the team must finish one full game ahead of the Suns to secure the spot.
Phoenix holds a tiebreaker over the Mavericks after winning three of the four matchups this season. This means Dallas cannot finish with the same record and must have at least a one-game lead when the season ends.
Mavericks forward Klay Thompson said he is still confident that Dallas can make a run to make a deep playoff run once the team is completely healthy.
“They’re going to be so great when we get the front court back because they’re going to be in such great shape and everyone’s confidence will be so much higher and our cohesion will be so much better,” he explained, per Mavs.com.
The good news for Dallas is that it has just the 14th-hardest strength of schedule remaining in the league this regular season, with the remaining opponents having a win percentage of just .505.
Additionally, Phoenix has the hardest remaining schedule of any team in the league, with an opponent winning percentage of .585.
Phoenix also has six games remaining this season against teams ranked within the top three in the Western and Eastern Conferences, making it difficult to catch up to the Mavericks with so few games remaining.
Dallas will look to remain above .500 with a matchup against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at 7 p.m.