NBA Power Rankings: Doncic Lifts Mavs Into Top 10
The lowest point of the Dallas Mavericks' season came on Christmas night when their undermanned roster lost to the Utah Jazz. Dallas put up a great fight given the circumstances (injuries and COVID protocols), but the loss dropped the team to a season-low record of 16-18.
A lot has changed since then, though, as Luka Doncic has found his groove in a major way and led a resurgence for the Mavs. Dallas – fifth in the Western Conference standings – is now 36-25 on the season with a chance to go a season-high 12 games over .500 if it takes care of business against a struggling Lakers squad. Doncic averaged 34.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists in February while shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from deep.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
All of this recent success for the Mavs has resulted in improved their status in multiple NBA Power Rankings. First up, NBA reporter Marc Stein squeezed Dallas into his top-10 this week.
"The Mavericks stand as a fascinating illustration of modern basketball," said Stein in his reasoning for moving the Mavs up a notch. "Even with both Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson in prime roles ... Dallas decided that it needed even more ballhandling. ... Moving on from Porzingis was the primary aim, but the early returns from the newcomers have been promising, as illustrated most by Dinwiddie's role in Dallas' impressive climb Sunday out of a 21-point hole to win at Golden State."
Next up, NBA.com has the Mavs even higher, ranking them as the seventh-best team in the league. In that set of rankings, John Schuhmann has Dallas ahead of the Utah Jazz and – in what may be a result of the Mavs' comeback win on Sunday night – even the Golden State Warriors.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
"The Mavs now lead the league with 12 wins (they’re 12-20) in games they trailed by double-digits," writes Schuhmann. "With their comeback from 21 points down at Golden State on Sunday being their first win in a game they trailed by more than 20 points since they had two in the 2020 bubble. They’re still just 18-for-78 (23 percent) on clutch threes, but Spencer Dinwiddie (2-for-24 on clutch threes in his final full season with Brooklyn, 7-for-15 this season) hit a big one off a feed from Luka Doncic, capping a remarkable, 26-1 run and putting the Mavs up six with less than two minutes left."
Overall, the Mavs are fifth in defensive rating and 16th in defensive rating. For the most part, the much-improved defense has stayed consistent, but the offense has taken a positive jump lately. Over the last 10 games, Dallas has the eighth-best offensive rating in the league.
Doncic regaining his MVP-candidate form has been the main catalyst of this change, and if it continues for the remaining fourth of the season, the Mavs will not only have a chance to get out of the first round of the playoffs, but they could potentially go even further.
