After 12 consecutive seasons of making the playoffs which was highlighted by winning the NBA Championship in 2011, the Dallas Mavericks watched the playoffs from home last season. The Mavericks still have not endured a losing campaign since the 1999-2000 NBA season and they have added to that streak as Dallas has secured 42 wins so far on this current NBA year. With 12 games remaining in the regular season for the Mavericks, they trail the San Antonio Spurs by 11 games in the Southwest Division, but they are in 7th place in the Western Conference. The Mavericks currently find themselves slugging it out with the Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, and Phoenix Suns for a playoff spot which is a welcome sight as opposed to last year.
The Mavericks fell four games short of the playoffs last season as they were still reeling from the 2011 NBA Lockout. The Mavericks won the NBA Championship in 2011, but they were the ultimate victim of the league’s new collective bargaining agreement as they lost key players from their championship team in center Tyson Chandler and point guard Jason Kidd to free agency and they never had a real chance to defend their NBA crown. In the 2012 NBA Playoffs, the Mavericks were swept in the first round by the eventual Western Conference Champions in the Oklahoma City Thunder and as previously mentioned they bottomed out last season.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is a self made man and he will do everything possible in order to succeed. After not having the opportunity to retain his championship team following the 2011 title run, Cuban went to work last summer in the hopes of again putting a Mavericks team on the floor that could play well into the spring this year.
The Mavericks went out and signed shooting guard Monta Ellis to a three-year deal. In the first eight years of his NBA career, Ellis built somewhat of a reputation as a guy that could only put up big numbers on a losing team, but he is having one the best seasons of his career this year in Dallas. Ellis has always been known as a volume scorer, but he has fit in nicely to the “team ball” concept in Dallas under Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle. Ellis is averaging 18.8 points per game this season which is slightly down from his 19.4 points per game career average and his 5.8 assists per contest this season which leads the Mavericks is up from his 4.8 career average.This season the Mavericks have five players that are averaging double-figures in points and they are led by 12-time NBA All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki. Off-season knee surgery limited Nowitzki to just 53 games last season and his numbers resembled that as he only averaged 17.3 points per game which was his lowest points per game average since the 1999-2000 NBA season. Nowitzki has returned to form this season as he is averaging over 20 points per game (21.5) for the 13th time of his NBA career as he and Ellis have formed a nice duo in leading the Mavericks.
The Mavericks were a team that remained just a few games over the .500 mark this season until the end of January when this team began to gel. Entering play on January 31, the Mavericks were 26-21. The Mavericks defeated the Sacramento Kings 107-103 that night and they have not looked back since as they are 16-7 over this current stretch. In this current run for the Mavericks they have secured victories over playoff contenders such as the Grizzlies and the Portland Trailbazers. But the Mavericks saved their best performance for a season sweep of the Eastern Conference’s top team in the Indiana Pacers while winning their first road game against the Thunder in their last 11 tries.
Aside from Nowitzki and Ellis, Carlisle can rely on a veteran group of role players in forwards Shawn Marion and Brandan Wright along with guards Vince Carter, Jose Calderon, and Devin Harris to provide the fuel that this team needs.
This Mavericks lineup is guided by Carlisle who throughout his NBA coaching career has led successful teams as he has won at every stop along the way. In his two seasons as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, Carlisle led the team to one appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. In Carlisle’s first season with the Pacers, he guided them as well to the Eastern Conference Finals. And of course he touched that holy grail in 2011 by leading the Mavericks to their only NBA Championship in franchise history.
This season the Mavericks are a team that more than likely will finish the regular season in the bottom half of the eight playoff bound teams in the Western Conference, but that doesn’t mean that they cannot do damage in the postseason. The law firm of Nowitzki and Ellis have worked well this season while even in the twilight of his career, Marion can still get it done at the defensive end of the floor with the 6.6 boards and 1.2 steals that he is averaging on the year. The Mavericks core is a veteran bunch that could be a dangerous match-up for any team in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs due to the fact that some of them have been to the NBA summit before.
Coming down the stretch of the regular season Carlisle will have a great opportunity to gauge his team for the postseason. The Mavericks have two games remaining against the Los Angeles Clippers along with contests with the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs respectively. The Mavericks last two games of the regular season will be against the Suns and Grizzlies who are currently their main competition for playoff spots.
The NBA Playoffs are right around the corner, but the excitement has already started for the Mavericks.
Source: Basketball-reference.com
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