NBA Power Rankings: Mavs 'Wheels Fell Off' vs. Bulls, But Does Dallas Improve?
The Dallas Mavericks are recovering from a 144-115 blowout loss Saturday against the Chicago Bulls on the road.
The loss capped off a 2-2 stretch where the team beat the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets early in the week and lost to the Milwaukee Bucks and Bulls.
In Sports Illustrated's latest power rankings, the wins outweighed the losses as the Mavs jumped up two spots from No. 10 to 8.
"As expected, the wheels fell off for the Mavericks without Luka Dončić," SI writes. "Dallas lost by 29 in Chicago on Saturday to drop to 0–2 without him this season. He led the team to wins against the Suns and Nuggets earlier in the week and his 33-point effort against the Bucks ended with a one-point loss in the final seconds of the game. The Mavs haven’t strayed far from .500 this year, though they have three consecutive games ahead at home, where they’ve fared much better than on the road thus far."
Dončić's absence from Saturday night's game to rest has been taken into consideration for these rankings. The team is far different when he plays vs. when he sits and is simply not a contender without him.
Luckily for the Mavs, Dončić looks to return Monday when the team hosts the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team also has games this week against the Cleveland Cavaliers (Wed. at home, Sat. on road) and Portland Trail Blazers (Fri. at home)
You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.
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