The first couple of months of the season weren’t all that inspiring for the Mavericks.
Dallas, which kept its roster largely the same as last season, came into the new year with a sub-.500 mark at 17–18. At that point in the campaign, the Mavs ranked just 17th in offensive efficiency—a wildly disappointing metric given that the club broke an NBA record for the most efficient offense ever in 2020. Some of the dropoff could be attributed to Kristaps Porziņģis missing a quarter of the season’s games at that point in the schedule. But just as much, if not more, could be laid at the feet of franchise player Luka Dončić, who eventually acknowledged not coming into the season in the greatest shape conditioning-wise following a few weeks of relaxation after competing in the Olympics for Slovenia.
With all that in mind, it must be a good feeling for the Mavericks and coach Jason Kidd to be tied for fourth in the West while still having a chance to catch the Steph Curry-less Warriors, who have a three-game advantage for third with three weeks left in the regular season.
