The Dallas Mavericks were never supposed to make the playoffs this season but expectations surrounding Rick Carlisle’s team called for a competitive showing and a full-season win total in the mid-to-high 30’s. For much of the season, those projections appeared prescient, as Luka Doncic and company operated at a highly competitive level and threatened to knock off any opponent on any night.
In fact, Dallas boasted a 23-27 record on Feb. 1 — when the team elected to pull the trigger on a future-facing deal involving Kristaps Porzingis — and there were was even optimism that the Mavericks would continue to be competitive after that trade came to fruition. Since then, however, that simply hasn’t been the case.
To be fair, the Mavericks actually won three out of their first five games after overhauling their roster, leaning in to the notion that the moves wouldn’t change their outlook to a tremendous degree. Since then, however, Dallas has been the worst team in the NBA and it isn’t particularly close. The Mavs have dropped 10 of 11 games and, during that period, the team has an unsightly -12.7 net rating (worst in the league) and a dismal defensive rating (117.0) that would make anyone blush.
Doncic hasn’t been the issue, as the Rookie of the Year favorite is averaging 22.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 6.4 assists (in 9 games) since the downturn began. The rest of the roster is a mess, though, and at least part of that is by design. Obviously, the biggest domino was the acquisition of an injured player in Porzingis and that was always going to make the team worse to some degree. With that said, Mavs owner Mark Cuban defiantly said in early February his team wouldn’t be “tanking” down the stretch of the season and that goes against what many believe to be happening at this point.
In short, the Mavericks do have some incentive to lose, as the franchise owes a top-five protected pick to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the deal involving Doncic and Trae Young from late June. Dallas has a five-game lead on Atlanta for the fifth-worst record in the NBA and, as such, it is wildly unlikely that the Mavericks will begin the draft lottery with a better chance to keep that pick than they have to convey it. Still, the Mavericks help their chances of vaulting into the top four if they can secure the No. 6 position and, well, there is little reason to believe that Dallas is going to turn things around with how they have played in recent days.
In an overall sense, this can’t be seen as a negative season for the Mavs, simply because Doncic looks like the player they dreamed he would be and Porzingis is on the way for the 2019-20 campaign. That doesn’t change how rough things have been recently, however, and the Mavs are treated as such in this week’s DIME power rankings.
Where does your favorite team land? Let’s find out.
1. Houston Rockets (42-25, Last week — 4th)
Houston probably isn’t the best team in the NBA, but the Rockets are, however, playing the best of anyone in the league right now and a nine-game winning streak (with some help elsewhere) is enough to vault James Harden and company to the top spot this week.
2. Milwaukee Bucks (50-17, Last week — 3rd)
I’m not actually worried about the Bucks but they’ve been human in March. Milwaukee has dropped three out of five games and that keeps them out of the penthouse. On the bright side, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been out of his mind, leading the Bucks in points, rebounds and assists in five consecutive games.
3. Golden State Warriors (45-21, Last week — 1st)
Golden State has been No. 1 for the vast majority of the season, even with plenty of evidence to the contrary in a regular season sense. We just can’t ignore what the Warriors have done this week, with six losses in ten games and a ghastly performance at home against Phoenix. Is anyone actually “worried” about this team? Probably not, but the recent returns aren’t ideal. We’ll see if they get up for Wednesday’s battle with the Rockets in Houston.
4. Toronto Raptors (48-20, Last week — 2nd)
I can’t un-see the Raptors losing by a wide margin to the Cavs on Monday night. As noted earlier in this space, bizarre events happen in March but Toronto went from contention for the No. 1 spot to a firm placement at No. 4 with haste.
5. LA Clippers (39-29, Last week — 10th)
Five straight wins will help any team’s standing. The Clippers were certainly aided by their first three victories but back-to-back wins over the Thunder and Celtics (by a combined 33 points) did wonders for Doc Rivers’ club when it came to jumping five spots.
6. San Antonio Spurs (38-29, Last week — 11th)
Like the Clippers before them, San Antonio has won five in a row and they move in lockstep with Los Angeles as a result. If anything, the Spurs have even a more impressive collection of wins — with a quartet of home victories of playoff teams included — and this is a perfectly on-brand stretch for a team that has been scalding hot or ice cold for essentially the entire season.
7. Philadelphia 76ers (42-25, Last week — 6th)
Philly righted the ship in its last outing, taking care of business with a double-digit win over Indiana. Prior to that, though, the team lost three of four and that isn’t ideal, even with the caveat of Joel Embiid’s absence in those contests.
8. Denver Nuggets (43-22, Last week — 7th)
The Nuggets are quietly just 6-7 in their last 13 games. Granted, five of those six victories came in succession but, since then, Denver has dropped four of five, including a 17-point blasting in Oakland.
9. Oklahoma City Thunder (41-26, Last week — 8th)
Things got weird for Russell Westbrook in Salt Lake City on Monday night and, unfortunately, his explosive interaction with a fan overshadowed what was a (very) good win for the Thunder. Oklahoma City needed that one, too, with the team struggling a bit in recent days.
10. Portland Trail Blazers (40-26, Last week — 5th)
A home loss to OKC this week pushes the Thunder ahead of the Blazers, even if the two teams are in the same tier overall. Portland did bounce back with a win over Phoenix, though, and that means more than it would have a few weeks ago.
11. Boston Celtics (41-27, Last week — 13th)
Isn’t it perfectly on-brand for this Celtics season to lose to the Clippers by 25 points after “righting the ship” with three straight wins? It wouldn’t be wise to make too much of that result after a generally positive week but it has to be acknowledged.
12. Brooklyn Nets (36-33, Last week — 17th)
After four straight wins, all indications are that the Nets will be crashing the playoff party. FiveThirtyEight gives Brooklyn an 89 percent chance to make the postseason and we should all stop and realize what an accomplishment that will be for this squad, even in the sometimes dismal East.
13. Indiana Pacers (42-25, Last week — 9th)
It might finally be happening for the Pacers. Indy is 2-5 in their last seven games and they have a bottom-five net rating during that admittedly small sample. If you want to be optimistic, though, the Pacers draw the Knicks at home on Tuesday. That is usually a cure for anything that ills.
14. Utah Jazz (37-29, Last week — 12th)
If you believe the projection systems, it doesn’t appear as if the Jazz have any reason to fear when it comes to making the playoffs. In the same breath, Utah is now the No. 8 seed after crazy-hot stretches from the Clippers and Spurs. That’s weird to ponder.
15. Minnesota Timberwolves (32-35, Last week — 19th)
The Wolves are pretty anonymous right now, as they are firmly entrenched in “the middle” between playoff-bound teams and the dregs of the lottery. With that in mind, it might be easy to forget that Karl-Anthony Towns has been ridiculous down the stretch of the season but, well, he has been.
16. Detroit Pistons (34-32, Last week — 14th)
The Pistons were probably due for a flop and it came on Monday night. Detroit lost to Brooklyn by 28 points but, rather than letting that ugly result stain things entirely, we’ll point out that Dwane Casey’s squad won eight of the nine previous games.
17. Miami Heat (31-35, Last week — 21st)
If the season ended today, the Heat would be in the playoffs. It hasn’t been the prettiest ride (and Miami just lost by 21 in its last game) but the end result… would be the one they wanted, at least to some degree.
18. Orlando Magic (31-37, Last week — 15th)
Orlando’s big kick to jump into playoff contention is slowing, as the team just lost three of four. That was almost certainly going to happen at some point but, for the Magic to make the postseason, they can’t afford to lose to the Cavs and Grizzlies like they recently did.
19. Sacramento Kings (33-33, Last week — 16th)
If you want to be negative, you can point out that the Kings are 3-7 in their last 10 games. If you want to be optimistic, you can point out that all seven losses came by seven points or less. It would’ve been nice for Sacramento to win a couple of those but alas.
20. Memphis Grizzlies (28-40, Last week — 23rd)
Break up… the Grizzlies?! Memphis just reeled off three straight wins and took down the Blazers and Jazz in the process. All things considered, that might not be great from a future-facing standpoint but I’m sure it was nice for the players on the current roster to taste a bit of success.
21. Washington Wizards (28-39, Last week — 22nd)
The Wizards didn’t do too much to earn this (small) bump but they’ve been competitive. Washington has won three straight home games and, if all the team does is hold serve when it is supposed to, they avoid full-fledged disaster.
22. Charlotte Hornets (30-37, Last week — 20th)
We’re being kind to the Hornets to keep them this high. Charlotte is 4-11 in the last 15 games and, during that time period, only the Knicks have a worse record. As a result, Kemba Walker’s team is now 1.5 games out of the No. 8 seed in the East, even with Miami not exactly presenting a terrifying obstacle.
23. Phoenix Suns (16-52, Last week — 29th)
The Suns beat the Warriors in Oakland on Sunday. That is an exceptionally weird result and no one would argue otherwise. Still, Phoenix is playing better and evidence of that can be found in their recent run of five victories in seven games.
24. Atlanta Hawks (23-45, Last week — 26th)
Atlanta gets a bump based on a head-to-head win over New Orleans (we’ll get there in a moment) but Trae Young and company have cooled off a bit. Prior to that home victory, the Hawks lost four of five and they’ve settled into the reality of the No. 5 “seed” in the draft lottery.
25. New Orleans Pelicans (30-39, Last week — 18th)
Losing to the Jazz and Raptors at home isn’t perfect, but it’s clearly acceptable with where the Pelicans are. Losing to the Hawks when Atlanta is on a back-to-back… is not as great. Yes, New Orleans has injuries and weirdness, but they still aren’t as competitive as they should be on some nights.
26. Cleveland Cavaliers (17-50, Last week — 28th)
Make no mistake, Cleveland’s season-long profile is dismal. They’ve been very competitive recently, though, and the team is 6-8 with Kevin Love in the lineup. The Cavs also thumped the Raptors on Monday, which helps when taking the short-term view.
27. Chicago Bulls (19-49, Last week — 25th)
The Bulls are still playing (much) better now than they were earlier in the season, but Chicago has dropped four of five games. That has to take some wind out of the team’s sails but, on the bright side, the lone victory came against a quality opponent in the Sixers.
28. Los Angeles Lakers (30-36, Last week — 24th)
How bad are things for the Lakers right now? Well, a prominent media voice called for the team to trade LeBron James this week. That really happened in 2019. For good measure, Los Angeles also ruled out both Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram for the balance of the season and virtually ensured a bottom-five perch in this space down the stretch.
29. Dallas Mavericks (27-39, Last week — 27th)
Only the Knicks keep Dallas away from the No. 30 spot and, if New York stole a win somewhere along the way this week, it would’ve been Dallas at the bottom.
30. New York Knicks (13-54, Last week — 30th)
There was a brief stint in which the Knicks had some life, winning three out of four games. On either side of that stretch, though, you find disaster. New York lost 18 (yes, 18) in a row before their uptick and, since it evaporated, the Knicks have dropped six straight. That earns the basement.
