Luka Doncic's Mavs Make Major Leap in NBA Power Rankings Following Trade Deadline Deals
After a perfect week that included a 3-0 road trip and a blowout win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at home, the retooled Dallas Mavericks are skyrocketing up the NBA Power Rankings.
This week, NBA.com has the Mavs ranked No. 7, which is seven spots up from their No. 14 ranking from last week. During Dallas' current four-game win steak, all wins have been by double-digits, and the fact that P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford seemed like seamless fits in their first game with the Mavs following the trade deadline makes it easy to see why many people have renewed confidence in this team.
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"Kyrie Irving has been back for four games and the Mavs have won all four. Road wins over the Sixers and Knicks came with the context that those teams were missing Joel Embiid and Jalen Brunson, but the Mavs clobbered the healthy Thunder on Saturday afternoon," John Schuhmann wrote.
"The four wins have all come by double-digits and the streak has been one of the Mavs’ strongest stretches of the season on both ends of the floor. Irving and Luka Doncic have been brilliant offensively, but allowing just 107.5 points per 100 possessions over the four games is much more noteworthy, given that the Mavs allowed 126 per 100 over the previous 11. (Plus, that defensive success hasn’t been about 3-point shooting.)"
With the Mavs' final two games before the All-Star break being against the lowly Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs, there's a good chance they could be riding a six-game win streak while having more than a week to get Dereck Lively II and Dante Exum completely healthy. With the Mavs having the third-easiest remaining schedule, achieving a 50-win season isn't out of the question. And if that happens, it will be hard for voters to keep Luka Doncic from winning his first league MVP award.
