Dallas Mavericks Damage Playoff Possibilities Additional With One other Loss To Charlotte Hornets

The Dallas Mavericks aren’t serving to themselves. Determined for a win to maintain their playoff possibilities alive, Dallas dropped their second recreation in a row to the Charlotte Hornets on the street, 110-104. As soon as once more, the Mavericks seemed torpid and uninterested regardless of the urgency of their scenario.

Dallas has misplaced four-straight video games and is sitting within the eleventh seed within the Western Convention and out of the play-in event. With seven video games left to play within the common season, they’re all must-win video games. The query shouldn’t be whether or not the Mavericks can muster the power to compete and win; it’s whether or not they even care to strive.

“I feel it simply comes right down to your self within the mirror, on the finish of the day and seeing what you are able to do to assist the workforce,” Tim Hardaway Jr. stated. “The need to win must be at an all-time excessive proper now. Even being a few video games out of the play-in — a pair extra video games out of not even being within the play-in — like I stated, need must be at an all-time excessive proper now.”

The need Hardaway talks about wasn’t there within the first half towards the Hornets. Like Friday night time, Charlotte constructed an enormous first-half league that left the Mavericks scrambling and in search of solutions. Solutions have been in brief provide for Dallas all season.

If there was a vibrant spot in Sunday’s recreation, it was the play of Luka Doncic. After going 0-6 from the ground and scoring simply 5 factors within the first quarter, the Mavericks’ star erupted within the second quarter and carried his uptick in offense into the second half of the sport. He completed with 40 factors, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Nevertheless, Doncic additionally picked up his sixteenth technical foul of the season after arguing a name with an official. NBA guidelines stipulate {that a} participant is robotically suspended with out pay for one recreation as soon as he receives his sixteenth technical foul throughout a daily season. The suspension comes at a time when Dallas can least afford to not have its finest participant.

“Hopefully, it’s rescinded,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd stated. “Didn’t assume it was warranted, however we’ll see what occurs. If he’s suspended, we now have to maneuver on with the subsequent man.”

The Mavericks have a fast turnaround. They may play the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis on Monday within the second recreation of their present five-game street journey by way of the Japanese Convention. The significance of those video games can’t be overstated after Sunday’s loss to Charlotte.

The Mavericks stay exterior the play-in event and should curb their four-game skid and begin racking up wins. Three of the 4 groups within the play-in — the Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder — have tiebreakers over Dallas. Nevertheless, the Mavs do personal the tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Lakers.

It might not matter if the Lakers, who obtained LeBron James again from harm Sunday, preserve successful and the Mavericks preserve shedding. Getting swept by the lottery-bound Hornets is a brand new and deserved low for Dallas. Nothing is working for the workforce proper now; their effort and physique language reveal it.

Dallas confirmed a combat within the second half of its video games with Charlotte, nevertheless it couldn’t maintain the momentum. A dedicated effort to play onerous, or lack thereof, has been a staple of this disappointing season, and proper now, the Mavericks appear like a workforce that both can’t play higher or isn’t inquisitive about attempting.

“It’s simply unlucky that we let these two video games go,” Kidd stated. “So, we have to determine how you can cease the bleeding.”