Luka Doncic’s partnership with Kyrie Irving hasn’t yielded the results the Mavericks expected. Dallas was 4th in the West when they took over Irving from the Nets on February 6th. Almost two months later, after losing to the – without Bam Adebayo – Heat, Dallas are 11th(!) in the West and are struggling to get into the play-in, with the odds not being on their side.

The Mavericks have basically put their hands up and gouged out their eyes for the past few days. The back-to-back losses to the indifferent Hornets have practically turned things on their head for Doncic’s company Irving, who instead sits 10th in the West with a 39-39 record (level with Wolves, who are 9th in the West). are out of play-in and things are looking extremely bad.

To be precise, here are the rankings in the West at places 7-12:
7. New Orleans Pelicans 40-38
8. LA Lakers 39-38
9.Minnesota Timberwolves 39-39
10. Oklahoma City Thunder 38-40
———-
11 Dallas Mavericks 37-41
12. Utah Jazz 36-41

The Mavericks are 1 game behind the Thunder, 2 behind the Wolves, 2.5 behind the Lakers and 3 behind the Pelicans, while the Jazz are a half game behind them in 12th place. With the exception of the Lakers and Jazz – who have 5 games left – the other teams battling for a play-in spot (Pelicans have realistic hopes for even 5th place) have 4 games each.

It looks difficult for Dallas. But in reality, it’s…worse, as the Mavs lag behind the teams above them in almost every tiebreak. Specifically, Dallas has:
2-2 wins over Pelicans (falling behind because New Orleans has better offense)
3-1 win over the Lakers
1-2 wins against Wolves
1-2 wins against the Thunder
3:1 wins against the Jazz

In a few words: With the exception of the Lakers, the Mavericks don’t want to be tied with any team other than the current ranks 7-10. Special:

• In order for the Mavericks to overtake the Thunder – who are their direct competitor – they need to win two more in the four remaining games until the end of the regular season. For example, that’s 3 wins and Oklahoma City one win, or 4/4 and The Thunder up to two wins.
• To get past the Wolves, they need to win three times more than Minnesota (3 wins against none of the Wolves or 4 wins for a Wolves win).
• To get past the pelicans they have to go 4/4 and the pelicans 0/4
• To get past the Lakers, all they have to do is tie.

The schedule is dangerous, but the Thunder are in…worse

With the Mavericks losing 5 of their last 6 games, including two straight losses to the Hornets, it’s clear Dallas can… lose to anyone. But even leaving their image out of the equation, a look at their schedule shows that things aren’t easy as 3 of their 4 remaining games are high stakes.

Specifically, the Mavericks will face off in their last 4 games in order:

• Away from the Atlanta Hawks (38-39) by Trae Young and Dejude Marie who are fighting for a good position in the eastern play-in.
• Home of the Sacramento Kings (47-30) who secured 3rd place in the west but are still chasing 2nd place from the Grizzlies.
• Home of the Chicago Bulls (37-40) fighting for No. 10 in the West.
• At home with the Spurs (19-58) going through the “YOLO” stage in pursuit of Victor Webanyama and maybe even giving Gregg Popovich or the guy who works the floor in the team canteen some playing time to make sure that they do get beaten.

As becomes clear, the Mavs, despite 3/4 home games – with the exception of the Spurs – meet teams hungry for victory. You can hope that Sacramento might show up without their appetizers, but as it turns out, even that might not be enough.

On a positive note for the Mavericks, their direct rival (The Thunder) has an even tougher schedule as they face the Suns (home), Warriors (away), Jazz (away), and Grizzlies (home) in HQ order. In general, making it to a win is indeed an open-ended scenario for Oklahoma City, giving the Mavericks a breather. But Dallas can’t count on the Thunder’s results, they need to win first.

Either way, it’s clear the Mavericks are in a tough spot. Right now, they certainly don’t look like the title contenders they expected when they took over Irving. Instead they look like – and are – a mediocre team with no chemistry and a Swiss cheese defense.

Will the Texans flip the switch in the last 4 games? If they don’t, the year will prove to be a fiasco, especially considering they made it to the West Finals last year. However, the worst thing is that even if they get enough wins, it may not be enough. And there’s nothing worse than not defining your NBA destiny.

The Heat defeated the unlikely Luka Doncic’s Mavericks to stay in 7th place in the East, while Dallas stayed in 11th place in the West and were eliminated from the play-in.

In the other game of the night, the Pelicans defeated the Clippers and edged them out in the West to 6th place, moving themselves up to 7th place and openly threatening the LA team for a playoff spot.

East

1. Milwaukee Bucks 55-22*
2. Boston Celtics 54-24*
3. Philly 76ers 51-26*
4th Cleveland Cavaliers 48-30*
5.New York Knicks 45-33
6. Brooklyn Networks 42-35
———-
7.Miami Heat 41-37
8.Atlanta Hawks 38-39
9.Toronto Raptors 38-39
10.Chicago Bulls 37-40
———-
11. Washington Wizards 34-43
12. Indiana Pacers 34-44
13. Orlando Magic 33-44
14. Charlotte Hornets 26-52
15. Detroit Pistons 16-61

west

1. Denver Nuggets 51-26*
2. Memphis Grizzlies 49-28*
3. Kings of Sacramento 47-30*
4. Phoenix Suns 42-35
5. Warriors of the Golden State 41-37
6.LA Clippers 41-38
———-
7. New Orleans Pelicans 40-38
8. LA Lakers 39-38
9.Minnesota Timberwolves 39-39
10. Oklahoma City Thunder 38-40
———-
11 Dallas Mavericks 37-41
12. Utah Jazz 36-41
13. Portland Trail Blazers 32-45
14. San Antonio Spurs 19-58
15 Houston Rockets 19-59
* You have qualified for the playoffs
** The top six teams in each region advance directly to the playoffs.
** *Teams ranked 7th-10th in each region will enter the play-in tournament and claim the last two spots in East and West respectively.

The pelicans are still here. Confirming their uptrend, New Orleans beat the Clippers 122-114, dropping them to 6th place in the West and closing in on LA by half a game to ignite a spot in the West’s playoffs and play-in.

Brandon Ingram led with 36 points, with Jonas Valanciunas adding 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Trey Murphy and CJ McCollum each adding 19 points.

With the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard had 40 points, Russell Westbrook had 24 points and Ivica Zubac had 15 points.

THE DODECALPTA: 21-31, 55-56, 91-90, 122-114

pelicans: Ingram 36 (8 assists), Jones 12 (1), Valanciunas 23 (1 3-pointers, 12 rebounds), McCollum 19 (1/5 3-pointers), Murphy 19 (2), Nance 2 (1/6 shots). ). , 6 rebounds), Marshall 3, Richardson 3 (1), Daniels 5 (1)

clippers: Batum 2, Leonard 40 (4/8 threes, 8 rebounds), Zubac 15 (6 rebounds), Westbrook 24 (3 threes), Powell 12 (5 rebounds), Covington (4 (1), Plumlee 6 (5 rebounds) , Highland 5 (2/7 shoot, 1 three-pointer), man 6 (2)