The Mavericks went 3-2 on their five-game trip that spanned 10 days.
It was a journey that came in like the proverbial lion, ended like the docile lamb.
Before it started, coach Jason Kidd said that there was one goal on the trip that started in Houston, then skirted the East Coast: “To come back over .500.”
Mission accomplished, even if it felt like the Mavericks were limping on the way home after losing the last two games on back-to-back nights at Philadelphia and Charlotte.
While the two clunkers took a little of the sheen off, it was, without question, a strong trip – one that got the Mavericks to 20-16 on the road this season. They are just one victory shy of assuring themselves a winning road record for the third consecutive season.
The difference is that their home record (23-12) is a much better winning percentage than the last two seasons at American Airlines Center (21-15 last season, 20-18 in 2019-20).
Continuing their home dominance is going to be crucial with four of the next five games at AAC. Three of them (Monday vs. Minnesota, Sunday against Utah and March 29 against the LA Lakers) are against opponents hungry to keep or improve their playoff positioning in the Western Conference.
The Mavericks are fifth in the West. But their position is tenuous, to say the least. Minnesota is just a game-and-a-half behind the Mavericks in seventh place. They are hoping to avoid the play-in tournament (teams 7 through 10 must survive the tournament to make the playoffs).
Denver is in sixth, a game behind the Mavericks, and Utah is in fourth, a game-and-a-half ahead of the Mavericks.
Having two games against Minnesota this late in the season will likely determine who has the tiebreaker should they end up in a tie with the Mavericks. Denver has gotten healthier and Utah has the tiebreaker against the Mavericks, regardless of what happens in their last regular-season meeting.
Suffice it to say that, with 11 games left, things could shake up many times between now and the season’s end on April. 10.
What the Mavericks will need to be wary of is the workload on their key players. Luka Dončić has averaged 35.6 minutes per game for the season and that’s exactly what he averaged on the five-game trip.
You have to wonder if a game off (or two) is in Luka’s future.
On the road trip, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie all got a game off.
But it’s a dicey time of the year. Every win seems to matter more down the stretch as the Mavericks strive for a home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The other goal is to not wear out key players. But if the Mavericks are not involved in the play-in tournament, which looks like a reasonably safe bet at the moment, they should have an extra few days between the end of the regular season and the start of the first round.
It’s all part of the chess match Kidd must play in the final three weeks of the regular season.
Twitter: @ESefko
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