Mavericks Officially Eliminated From Postseason Contention With Loss to Warriors

We all knew it was coming; it was just a matter of "when," not "if."

With a 137-131 loss to the Golden State Warriors in overtime on Monday night, who were playing without Stephen Curry, the Dallas Mavericks have officially been eliminated from postseason contention. It'll be the second year in a row that the Mavs have missed the playoffs, including three of the last four years.

What's crazier to say is that one season where they made the playoffs, they went to the NBA Finals. That's what having a talent like Luka Doncic will do for a franchise. A move made to win now has sent them spiraling without a playoff berth two years in a row.

The Mavs still have 10 games remaining after this loss, so with the only objective from here being to tank, they can focus on getting some losses. They currently have the 6th-worst record in the NBA, but are trying to catch up to the Jazz. Entering the night, the Jazz had a 2-game margin on the Mavs, and that stayed the same after the Raptors lost to the Toronto Raptors at home.

Dallas entered the season thinking they could be contenders even without Kyrie Irving, who was expected to at least miss the start of the season recovering from an ACL injury. He ended up missing the whole season, deciding to fully recover with an announcement after the All-Star Break. Even if Cooper Flagg has been better than expected as a rookie, he wasn't enough to overcome poor roster construction and bad personnel moves.

Once the Mavs traded Anthony Davis in a salary dump to the Washington Wizards, they were fully admitting that they were focused on next season.

Mar 23, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) reacts against the Golden State Warriors during the first half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

What To Watch in the Final 10 Games of the Season

The only reason to watch the Mavs at this point is to see if Cooper Flagg can overtake Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year. It's a tight race between the two former teammates and roommates at Duke, and while Flagg has been the better player, Knueppel has been on the better team. Both have had historic rookie seasons, though.

It's also March Madness, and there are still a few prospects the Mavs are keeping an eye on that are still playing, such as Duke's Cameron Boozer, Alabama's Labaron Philon, Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr., and Houston's Kingston Flemings. Dallas will have a chance to add one of those talented prospects alongside Flagg next season.

Stick with MavericksGameday for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the 2025-26 season

Follow MavericksGameday on Twitter and Austin Veazey on Twitter