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Dallas Mavericks Bench Was Incredibly Empty During Blowout Loss vs. Bucks

Dallas was forced to play only eight players.

Kyle Koster

Empty Mavs bench against Milwaukee
Empty Mavs bench against Milwaukee / Fullcourtpass on X
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The good news for the Dallas Mavericks is that they are still in sole possession of the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, meaning that hope is still alive to make the Play-In Tournament and go on a bit of a postseason run. The bad news is everything else, as they've lost Luka Doncic to a trade, Kyrie Irving to a season-ending injury and Anthony Davis may not return to the hardwood until next year.

Dallas sustained a 30-point road loss at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. Head coach Jason Kidd had only eight players at his disposal as the injuries have added up. This resulted in a very empty bench on display every time action went from right to left on the viewers's devices.

Midway through the second quarter, Klay Thompson and Dwight Powell were subbed out and had plenty of options about where they wanted to sit.

Say what you want about the Doncic trade but it's inarguable that Dallas has been crushed by a huge wave of bad luck. Anything that can go wrong, has gone wrong. Playing with an eight-person rotation is not sustainable and the Mavs need to heal up quickly.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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