The Mavericks not only survived their long, hopscotch trip across the western United States, they prospered on it.

Going 4-1 on the journey that crossed a time-zone boundary eight times (more on that below) was a terrific feat.

Now, the schedule gets more convenient.

But not much easier. And certainly not any less busy.Kidd

The Atlanta Hawks visit on Thursday night (early 6:30 p.m. tip) and it’s the first of three home games in four days. The Golden State Warriors Friday and Houston Rockets Sunday will follow.

And the Mavericks now have a chance to do two things that would serve them well in the final seven games of the regular season.

First, they can build their home court advantage. It’s rare for a team to have a better road record than home record, but right now, the Mavericks do. They are 23-15 on the road and 22-15 at American Airlines Center.

The time has come to give fans the nudge that they need to turn AAC into a fortress.

Second, the Mavericks still have a great shot at 50 wins. They need to go at least 5-2 in the final 11 days of the season.

Does 50 wins mean anything? Of course it does. The Mavericks have done it just twice since the 57-win championship season in 2011. They have won 50 or more games just 15 times in the franchise’s 44 years of existence.

Plus, going 5-2 or better the rest of the way would give the Mavericks an excellent chance of avoiding the play-in tournament for teams finishing seventh through 10th in the conference standings.

It starts with an important meeting against Atlanta, a game against a sub-.500 team that the Mavericks cannot afford to lose.

Here’s what to look for:

  • The Mavericks should have a massive rest advantage. Or will they? The Hawks are coming from Atlanta, where they beat the Detroit Pistons 121-113 on Wednesday night. Playing the second night of a back-to-back is always tough. But the Mavericks will be playing their first game at home after a 10-day, five-game trip that included crossing time zones eight times (Dallas to Salt Lake City to Sacramento to Houston to San Francisco to Dallas). That first home game after a long journey can feel like you’re still on the road.
  • The Hawks are led by Trae Young, but fans won’t get a chance to see the young star who was drafted by the Mavericks in 2018 and subsequently traded to Atlanta for Luka Dončić. Young has been sidelined after surgery on his left little finger. Replacing his 26.4 points and 10.8 assists per game has not been easy, but the Hawks actually have a winning record (11-8) since Young was injured.
  • They also are without Saddiq Bey, who underwent knee surgery and is out for the season.
  • Dejounte Murray has picked up the slack from Young and Bey and is averaging 22.6 points, 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game. Sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic is averaging 17 points per game and shooting 38 percent from three-point land.
  • The Hawks are assured of making the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference, currently in 10th place, and have a shot at catching Chicago for No. 9 in the East.
  • Dončić has 20 triple-doubles this season, including Tuesday’s 30-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist effort at Golden State. The superstar point guard and legitimate MVP candidate joined just Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players to average a triple-double for a month, which Dončić did during March.
  • The Mavericks won 11 of 12 games to pull into fifth place in the West before losing to the Warriors. Of their last seven games, the Mavericks will face three losing teams (Atlanta, at Charlotte, Detroit) and four winning teams (Golden State, Houston, at Miami, at Oklahoma City).

 

ATLANTA HAWKS (36-40) at MAVERICKS (45-30)

  • When/where: 6:30 p.m., American Airlines Center, Dallas.
  • TV: WFAA (Channel 8), UniMás.
  • Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).

X: @ESefko

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