Dallas Mavericks: Upcoming four game stretch pivotal for team

The Dallas Mavericks took care of business in their relaxing four-game home stretch. Now, things get more difficult starting on Sunday.

It has not been a big secret that the Dallas Mavericks have had a relatively easy schedule up to this point. Aside from having only one back-to-back so far, the Mavs have also only played 5 games against current playoff teams. There was no way to predict that it would be this easy considering the terrible start for both the Blazers and the Spurs, but it is what it is.

After taking down the defending champion Toronto Raptors last week, the Mavs had three straight games of pretty convincing wins. the Spurs were first who usually give Dallas some fits, but the way they are playing right now, that was not the case. Dallas won 117-110 but led by as many as 18 and never trailed in the entire game.

After that was the Mavs vs. the Warriors and, well, a near 50-point win was the result. Obviously this win was not against a tough team, but the Mavs offense was firing on all cylinders and Luka Doncic was absolutely unstoppable. Once again, the Mavs never trailed in the game.

Dallas finished off the homestand against the Cleveland Cavaliers who they demolished 143-101 for consecutive 40+ point wins. Once again, the Mavs could not miss and Luka could not be slowed down. Unfortunately in this one, the Cavs held the lead with just 3 minutes left in the first quarter. The Mavs got it back a minute later and never gave it up, but still.

The competition may not have been there, but the Mavs were absolutely impressive in all four games and in every area of the game. Luka is absolutely playing like an MVP and the team is looking very hard to stop. That will definitely be tested in the upcoming week.

The Mavs next four games are: on the road against the Houston Rockets, at home against the LA Clippers, on the road against the Phoenix Suns and then on the road again for the Los Angeles Lakers. This is all within an eight-day period.

All four of these teams are currently playoff teams in the Western Conference and three of them are above the Mavericks in the standings. It is no secret that Dallas will be going head-to-head with possibly the three best duos in the league right now.

The Mavs are going to have to keep playing the way they have over the past 4 games. They need to carry the momentum that they have now into Houston and continue it on for the next week. It would be a little crazy to think that the Mavs can go 4-0 over the next week, but they have proven they can keep up with the Lakers (and beat them if any refs show up for the game) and should believe they can beat anyone at any given time.

If Dallas manages to go 3-1 or better in this stretch, they will certainly gain the national recognition that only Luka has received up to this point. This team is better than people imagined before the season and there is a good chance that whichever team they potentially matchup with in the first round of the playoffs is going to be pretty worried about how to slow them down.