Dallas Mavericks: A Look at the Brutal Week Ahead

The Dallas Mavericks disposed of the Minnesota Timberwolves to close out Week 11 of the season, but life gets harder against four championship contenders in Week 12.

The Dallas Mavericks narrowly missed a perfect Week 11 of the season, a one-point loss on the road in Milwaukee leaving them 3-1. That’s all well and good, but the competition level takes a drastic upswing in Week 12. Dallas goes from four opponents jostling for lottery picks – the Kings, Pelicans, Bucks, and Timberwolves – to four with their sights set on hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy, and the means to do it.

First up for the Mavericks is LeBron James and the scorching hot Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The Cavs have won seven straight, and 13 of their last 15. The roster is complete, with Kyrie Irving back from a fractured knee cap suffered in Game 1 of the NBA Finals and Iman Shumpert back from a broken hand, and the team is humming along at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. They’re talented, they’re deep, and with the wind in their sails will be tough to beat for the Mavericks, even at home.

The Mavericks hit the road for the remaining three games, starting Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. The Thunder are as talented at the top as any team in the league with two bonafide MVP candidates, and have been equally as hot as of late as Cleveland. OKC has won 15 of their last 19.

Russell Westbrook is as good as it gets, but the biggest issues for the Mavericks are the game being on the second night of a back-to-back, and guarding Kevin Durant. He’s scored at least 20 points in 23 straight games, and is a made free throw or two off of a 50-40-90 start. The Thunder are the second-highest scoring team in the league, and are 17-5 at home, so the Mavericks will have their hands full.

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There’s no rest for the weary, as the Mavericks travel to Chicago for a Friday night matchup with the Bulls after facing the Thunder. Dallas defeated the Bulls at the AAC the day after Christmas, but it took some miscues from Chicago down the stretch to make it happen. Plus, the Bulls, a team that had problems finding its identity in the early going, have started to get it rolling.

After their loss to the Mavericks, Chicago reeled off six straight wins. Derrick Rose is looking to attack the basket more often, always a positive for the Bulls, and Jimmy Butler is playing like the best shooting guard in the league. They’ve looked great offensively since inserting Nikola Mirotic into the starting lineup at the small forward spot 10 games ago, averaging 107.0 points a night and shooting nearly 40% from deep as a team.

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The Bulls are 7-3 in that span, even with Rose missing a few with a hamstring injury. Dallas matches up pretty well with Chicago though, and as mentioned beat them not too long ago. It won’t be easy at the United Center but the game should be really good. The first matchup this season was a treat, and who could forget the double-overtime thriller last season?

Wrapping up the tough week is a showdown with the San Antonio Spurs. They score the sixth-most points per game at 103.9, while allowing the fewest at 89.7. They’re also undefeated at home and currently hold a seven game winning streak. San Antonio will also be quite rested for the Sunday game after dealing with the Cavaliers themselves Thursday night. Knocking off the Spurs at their place would be huge, and the Mavericks typically play them as well as anyone, but Dallas is going to have to hit shots and make the most out of every single possession.

For those of you keeping score, the Mavericks face off against four of the top-five seeds in the NBA this week. Combined they’re a robust 106-40. It’ll be a good test for the Mavericks, a measuring stick of sorts. Can’t get away with slow starts or uninspired effort on the defensive end against any of these teams and expect to stay in it very long. We should get a good look at what the team is really made of.

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