The Dallas Mavericks have had some up-and-down performances throughout the 2023-24 NBA regular season. Despite having one of the best offenses in the league, the team has been a major letdown defensively, giving up points, especially beyond the 3-point line, at an alarming rate.
But, sometimes all it takes is one game for a team to turn their season around completely. For the Mavericks, that game could have been over the weekend against the defending NBA Champion, Denver Nuggets.
The Mavericks defeated the Nuggets 107-105 thanks to a Kyrie Irving left-handed buzzer-beater. It was the team’s fifth win in their last six games, as they have improved their record to 39-29.
That put them in a virtual tie with the Sacramento Kings, who are in sixth place, the final position outside of the NBA Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference. The Kings are percentage points ahead with a 38-28 record, while the Mavericks are tied with the Phoenix Suns.
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Getting out of the Play-In Tournament should be the No. 1 goal the Mavericks have coming down the stretch of the season. But, Irving revealed after the victory over the Nugget that the team has much bigger aspirations this season.
“Championship is the ultimate goal. So, that’s what we’re playing for,” Irving declared, via Grant Afseth of DallasBasketball.com and NBA Analysis Network.
With Irving in the same backcourt as Luka Doncic, the Mavericks are certainly a dangerous team in the Western Conference. Having two players that can score as easily as that duo will be huge come playoff time when games slow down and become more focused on performance in the halfcourt.
For Dallas to realize the goal Irving shared, they will need to start performing at a high level overall. They have shown the ability to play defense, holding their opponents to 105 or fewer points in their last three victories. Doing that consistently would go a long way toward them achieving their goal of winning an NBA Championship.
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