Mavericks Better Built for Playoffs

Last night the Mavericks squeezed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in triple overtime, 135-131.

Editors Note: No Ace, that was regulation.

Writers Note: That was me, not Jubilant Jay Knodell.

Anthony Morrow, who couldn’t find minutes on the only Mavs team –2013– to not make the playoffs since 2000, scored 30 points. Enes Kanter, filling in for injured Serge Ibaka, had 30 of his own. Russell Westbrook ho-hummed his way to another triple-double but missed 22 of his 32 shots.

The Mavericks were obviously well represented offensively. Monta Ellis has 26 in his return from a one-game absence (calf), and Chandler Parsons followed up a 27/10 performance with 22 points and several key shots down the stretch.

This isn’t a game recap, though. You can find that here.

The Mavericks will need these two badly in the Playoffs.

Photo Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

It was a win, yes. A win that pretty much secures that Dallas won’t fall behind the Thunder for the 8th spot and a first round sweep at the hands of the top-seeded Golden State Warriors.

With the Spurs starting to do Spurs things –winning five in a row and 8 out of 10– the Mavericks’ fate for the 2015 NBA Playoffs will more than likely reside in the #7 spot. Who they will play is still to be determined.

It could technically, mathematically, be a rematch with San Antonio, or even the Clippers or Trail Blazers, but it will most certainly be either the Houston Rockets or Memphis Grizzlies. Dallas plays Houston at home tonight in a really, really weird game that can be summed up by this Marc Stein tweet.

Rockets at Mavs tonight? Status: Complicated. Because a Houston win realistically suits both teams
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 2, 2015

Houston and Memphis are both 51-24 and split their season series, leaving the tiebreaker to in-conference record, a department in which Memphis has a 1/2 game lead.

Tonight the Mavericks can split the season series with Houston with a win. But losing, a ridiculous strategy in the sense that it makes a ton of sense, wouldn’t be so bad, either. Rest Dirk? Sure. Rest Monta? Sure. Start Charlie V? Sure, I have to work anyway.

Dallas lost the season series to Memphis 3-1, including two bad home losses. We don’t want Memphis. We want Houston.

But the headlining factor here –at least for me– isn’t who we’re going to play, but how we’re going to play…now that we officially avoided the Warriors.

The Mavericks went 9-8 in March. That sucks. You can’t play like that.

But this has been a season of major #acclimation for Dallas. Rajon Rondo midseason. Amar’e Stoudemire at the buyout deadline. And even before that we had 10 new players, including the re-returns of Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and Bernard James.

It’s tough to put a team in this position, especially head coach Rick Carlisle, who has had completely new teams each year after coaching a veteran squad to the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.

Another thing that hurts Dallas is the long ball. The Mavericks give up open 3’s like it’s in style and they aren’t built with shooters. In the playoffs these things tend to be less of a headache, as teams actually play all of the 48 minutes with 4th quarter intensity. I know, right?

Regardless of all these new parts, the March struggles and everything in between, the Mavericks showed us last year that once the calendar found the NBA Playoffs, they kicked it into a new gear.

Parsons has turned a corner recently.

Photo Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

Hell, Jose Calderon was playing defense and Samuel Dalembert was hitting free throws.

This year the team is a lot more talented, whether they’re playing that way or not.

The NBA Playoffs are a whole ‘nother animal, and yes Dirk Nowitzki‘s postseason heroics are (mostly?!) behind him and neither Parsons or Ellis has advanced past the first round, there’s championship experience elsewhere in Tyson, Rajon, Barea, Devin Harris, and Richard Jefferson. Amar’e Stoudemire also has a lot of playoff experience.

It’s a big IF, but it’s an IF I am going to cling to, because last night’s performance defensively is something that can’t be tolerated in the postseason. Then again, Jose Calderon D’d up, why can’t these guys?

Go Mavs.

Oh, and close out on shooters please.

Next: Who do the Mavericks Want in the First Round?

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