The Dallas Mavericks (21-44, seventh in Loser for Boozer race) play basketball once again on Thursday, which can be as encouraging or threatening as you choose to make it out to be. This time out, the road trip continues in Memphis, where the Grizzlies (23-41, eighth in the Down for Darryn standings) await. Much like everyone else in contention for this race, the Mavs and Grizz are each riding extended losing streaks, with Dallas losing eight in a row and Memphis losing five in a row and eight of
their last ten.
Someone is going to come away with a hard-fought loss tonight, while the other will be left looking in the rearview mirror to ensure they can still hold their position as we head down the final stretch. Feel the excitement, it’s consequential March basketball! Here’s a couple things to keep an eye on in and around this game.
Defensive indifference
The key for the Mavericks in this run has been the defense, which has been truly abhorrent. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Mavericks defensive rating is 24th in the NBA since February 1st, where they have been surrendering 121.1 points per 100 possessions. That has contributed to them having the 4th worst net rating in that time, behind the likes of Indiana and Sacramento. For their part, Memphis ranks 26th in defensive rating over the same period.
A potential deciding factor in this one is the offense. The Grizzlies have a top ten offensive rating since February 1st, scoring 118.2 points per 100 possessions. The Mavericks are 28th in that same time, scoring just 109.0 points per 100 possessions.
All eyes on New Orleans
Ah, the joys of not having your own pick. Because Joe Dumars foolishly traded away their first round pick this year for Derik Queen, the Pels are blissfully ignorant to the carnage going on around them.
In a world full of tankers, the Pelicans are trying their butts off. Good on them! After their win over Toronto on Wednesday, they have now pulled even with the Mavericks in the Dybantsa Derby.
Which, speaking of, if you’d like to read Jack and I’s conference tournament NBA Draft previews, now would be a good time! We hit on the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. I might be biased, but these are a must read for any Mavericks fan leading up to the postseason.
Yes, this is a consequential game
Because of the depth of this draft class, these games for ping pong balls mean something. With these teams are right next to each other on the tank table, it’s an important result for both teams to get. Eighth place Memphis currently sits 2.5 games behind Dallas for seventh, but a Dallas win on Thursday would make that margin just 1.5 games with 16 still to go. More importantly, that would push the Mavericks two games back of Utah in the win column for fifth on the table, which is suddenly within sight.
However, flip the result and all of a sudden, Dallas has a 3.5 game buffer for their spot, which would be awfully hard to overcome. At the same time, they’d likely pull even with New Orleans and stay within a game of fifth in the table. It’s going to be a battle, but the Mavericks need a result on Thursday to ensure they hold their ground.
How to watch
Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT from the FedEx Forum in Memphis. KFAA Channel 29 and Mavs TV will have you covered locally. I would recommend bringing the heavy stuff to ensure you can get through all 48 minutes of this one.
