On the edge of the abyss, the Mavs no longer have the right to make mistakes if they still want to hope for a place in the Play-in Tournament. Despite the difficulty of the scenario, Kyrie Irving still believes in the chances of Dallas.
The defeat too many for the Mavs? Beaten last night in Atlanta in overtime, the Texans still wasted a cartridge. Twice in a row the Thunder lost and twice in a row the Mavs failed to take advantage of it to pick up. Here they are in a particularly difficult situation. Eleventh in the West with 37 wins and 42 losses, Jason Kidd’s men have not yet been eliminated from the race but they no longer have their destiny in their hands.
To go and play the spring games, it will therefore be necessary to win everything and hope for missteps from the teams in front, that is to say the Wolves and the Thunder. To make matters worse, Dallas does not have the tie-breaker once morest these two teams. In case of a tie, they will therefore be behind! Small example: the Mavs need three wins and an 0-3 from Minnesota to overtake them. Not easy..
There may be more luck on the side of OKC, who have only one victory more than Luka Doncic and company and a more difficult calendar. (travel to Golden State, Utah and reception of the Grizzlies). Still, Dallas needs two more wins than its rival. Either three wins and only one for the Thunder, or two wins and none for OKC. It’s the only way to still believe in the postseason. Crazy hope? Kyrie Irving in any case wants to stay positive and give everything until the end. The All-Star point guard confided in Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.
Mavericks OT loss to Hawks has Kyrie Irving, Dallas looking for ‘glimmer of hope’ https://t.co/572BImXj7x
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) April 3, 2023
“We had tough defeats, which drained us emotionally, but at the same time we are professionals. There is a glimmer of hope, a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel (he repeats).
But at the same time, I’m at peace with our efforts, with the flashes throughout the matches. We just have to be able to finish better collectively.”
If Uncle Drew tries to stay positive, it still seems very complicated for Dallas, which has been in freefall for the past fortnight with 1 victory in the last 8 games. We will particularly remember the double defeat once morest a team from Charlotte which is however at the bottom of the table in the East.
After Kyrie Irving’s trade, everyone expected to see Dallas play for the top spots at the end of the season. Today, it seems more likely to imagine the Mavs watching the Playoffs on TV. If so, there might be a few heads rolling this summer at the American Airlines Center (Jason Kidd, Nico Harrison?).
Source texte : Dallas Morning News
