Dallas Mavericks find the win column again over the Cavaliers

After what seemed like an eternity, the Dallas Mavericks found another win, bringing their record to 28-41. Although the win came over the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers, the Mavs did manage to do it without Luka Doncic.

A seven game losing streak is not a good thing, no matter how you look at it. Three of these seven losses came to teams that likely won’t be sniffing the playoffs either. Luka Doncic has played well throughout the 13-game streak that resulted in 12 losses and Jalen Brunson has proven to be a solid sidekick as well. Still, no formula was resulting in any wins.

Finally, on Saturday night, the Dallas Mavericks broke the streak with a win over the now 17-53 Cleveland Cavaliers. This win was meaningful for Mavs fans who got to see a quarter of vintage Dirk Nowitzki in which he scored 10 points during the 4th quarter. Although the fans were hoping for four more points, they were still pleased to see what Dirk was able to do.

Aside from Dirk, the Mavs actually put together one of the better team efforts from this season. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a team high 22 points on 8-18 shooting. He was joined in double-digits by six other Mavericks: Maxi Kleber with 18 points (season high), Dwight Powell and Jalen Brunson with 16 apiece, Dirk and Dorian Finney-Smith with 14 each and Trey Burke with 11. Devin Harris and Justin Jackson round out the rest of the Mavs points, combining for 10 points.

On the other side of the ball, the Cavs were led by their rookie, Collin Sexton, who dropped 28. Kevin Love and Cedi Osman scored 22 each and Jordan Clarkson added 17, but the team fell short overall, 121-116.

For those of you who were upset that the Mavs won this game, I would request that you look at the importance of a win in any form. Dallas losing the final 21 games of the season was never a realistic option for the team and a losing streak like that would have some serious negative effects on the young players, Luka Doncic in particular.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Mavs should keep winning more games and it doesn’t mean that they should intentionally be losing games. What it does mean, in my opinion, is that the team needs to be playing its best game and striving for a win. Whether that results in more wins or 13 straight losses is irrelevant as long as the team feels like they tried to win. They know the deficiencies of their roster.

The Dallas Mavericks won this game and it was a sight for sore eyes, but there is a lot of basketball left to be played and everyone is already excited about next season. No matter what, it is still a great time to be a Mavs fan.