The Dallas Mavericks Are Going to the Playoffs

The Dallas Mavericks are headed to the playoffs thanks to a solid performance from Dirk, Deron, and Wes against the Utah Jazz.

The Dallas Mavericks had a hard fought 101-92 win over the Utah Jazz in what turned out to be the 42nd win of the year, clinching a playoff birth and guaranteeing either the 5th, 6th, or 7th spot in the western playoffs. The loss for the Jazz and win for the Houston Rockets make it a two-way race for the 8th seed and the rights to face off against the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

The Mavs came out of the gate pretty strong in this game and never really tapered from start to finish. Dirk Nowitzki started off all scoring with an early bucket on the Mavericks first possession. Trey Lyles answered for the Jazz with a 3-pointer on the other end which would be the first and final lead for Utah in the entire game.

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Dallas took over from that point, keeping it close throughout the first half, but widening the lead in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Three Mavs players scored 20 or more tonight, two of which are former members of the Utah Jazz organization. The Mavericks scoring was led by Deron Williams with 23 on 9-16 shooting. He was followed by Dirk with 22 and Wesley Matthews with 20 of his own against the Utah Jazz team that gave him his start in the NBA.

The Mavericks now look to grab a higher playoff spot in hopes that they can make it through to the 2nd round. With a matchup against the Warriors now out of the question, the fans can relax and now pick their poison between the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Los Angeles Clippers. Here is how each of these pans out.

5TH SEED: The Mavs still have a chance of moving all the way up to number 5 but it would require some help from the teams in front of us as well as a victory over San Antonio on Wednesday. Portland is currently sitting comfortably in the 5th spot with Memphis at 6th. The only way that Dallas can move forward is if both teams lose their remaining games. Memphis has a very tough remaining schedule with games at the Clippers and at Golden State left. Both of those could very easily be losses for this team. The more difficult portion is the need for Portland to lose to the Denver Nuggets. Not very likely.

6TH SEED: To get the 6th seed and face off against the OKC Thunder, the Mavericks would just need a win in San Antonio and a loss by Memphis against either the Clippers or Warriors. In my opinion, this is the most likely outcome.

7TH SEED: The 7th seed is another likely outcome if the Mavericks lost to San Antonio on Wednesday. If this were the case, we would then be seeing them across the floor for the next 4 to 7 games. As well as we have played the Spurs in past years in the playoffs, I would much rather be going against the Clippers or Thunder.

Next: Roundtable: Best First Round Matchup for the Mavericks

Another great win for the Mavericks have secured them a spot in the playoffs and the fear of a rebuild can be shelved once more for all the Dallas fans. The final game of the season will be on Wednesday evening at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Let’s Go Mavs!