Mavs Have Inside Track To Higher Seed In West With Win Over Kings

The Dallas Mavericks climbed up to the sixth seed in the Western Conference, and with the easiest schedule remaining among the teams they're battling for playoff seeding, they may not be done climbing the standings.

The ability to peak at the right time is often what differentiates the teams who get bounced early in the playoffs compared to the ones who make a deep run.

While the Dallas Mavericks have had their fair share of ups and downs throughout the season, they're rounding into the form and finding ways to win regardless of who's on the other side of the court. This time, they continued their dominant run with arguably their biggest win of the season as they rolled past the Sacramento Kings 132-96 at the Golden 1 Center on Tuesday.

Luka Doncic continued his push to win the first MVP of his career after entering the game questionable with left achilles soreness, as he had 28 points with 11 rebounds and six assists without playing in the fourth quarter. Kyrie Irving had 24 points with eight assists and Tim Hardaway had a stellar performance off the bench with 22 points and six assists. P.J. Washington had his first double-double with the Mavs, scoring 14 points with 13 rebounds.

De'Aaron Fox, Luka Doncic

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Dallas (43-29) has now won five straight games and is 9-1 in its last 10 games. More importantly, it surpassed the Kings (42-30) for the sixth seed in the Western Conference, leading them by one game. The Mavs may not be done climbing the Western Conference Standings either.

The Mavs are one game back of the New Orleans Pelicans (44-28) for the fifth seed and 1.5 games back of the Los Angeles Clippers (44-27). With those teams' remaining schedules, if Dallas can handle its business against teams it should beat, hosting the opening round of the Western Conference Playoffs isn't far-fetched by any means.

Of the Mavs' final 10 games, eight are against teams currently in the playoffs or are competing for a spot in the play-in, including one more matchup against the Kings and two against the Golden State Warriors (37-34) and Houston Rockets (36-35). The Pelicans play eight teams currently in the playoffs or are competing for a spot in the play-in in their final 10 games, including the Boston Celtics (57-15), Milwaukee Bucks (46-26), Orlando Magic (42-29) and two games against the Phoenix Suns (42-30).

In the Clippers' final 11 games, eight are against teams in the playoffs or competing for a spot, including matchups against the Magic, two against the Suns, and they also face the Kings and the Denver Nuggets (51-21). For the two teams trailing Dallas by a game, the Kings face seven teams currently in the play-in or playoffs, including the New York Knicks (43-28) and Celtics, and the Suns' 10 remaining games are against teams in the play-in or playoffs.

With easier matchups compared to the teams competing for playoff positioning with Dallas, rising to the No. 4 seed is well within reach. And if the Mavs can stay on this hot streak, potentially earning homecourt advantage for at least the opening round will make them that much more dangerous in the playoffs.