Mavericks will be doomed if Anthony Davis doesn't make key mindset shift

The Dallas Mavericks play the Toronto Raptors tonight after coming off of Luka Doncic's 45-point return to Dallas, as well as losing three straight contests. The Mavericks are currently a full game back from the Sacramento Kings for the ninth seed in the West, and while Dallas has officially clinched playing the Kings in the 9-10 play-in game in the West, the Mavericks would have to win their final two games and Sacramento would have to lose their final two games for Dallas to host that game at home in the American Airlines Center.

There's been a domino effect of Dallas' season continually falling into shambles ever since Nico Harrison blindsided everyone with the Doncic trade on February 1, and while Dallas' string of bad luck seemed like it was finally coming to a halt with all three of their bigs returning to the lineup, Doncic's return was the ultimate reality check for where the Mavericks are currently at.

Sure, the Mavericks may be going out with more pride by bringing their bigs back and fighting to make the outskirts of postseason action, but Dallas' decision to keep pushing isn't one that will help them this season in any capacity. With Kyrie Irving out till sometime next season with a torn ACL, Dallas would need Anthony Davis to play at an other-worldly level offensively to garner any playoff success, and Davis hasn't even been able to string together any consistent stretch for Dallas so far.

Anthony Davis hasn't played like a superstar, and it's killing Dallas

Davis has obviously had a few head-turning performances, such as his debut versus the Houston Rockets as well as in the game he hit the game-winner versus the Atlanta Hawks, but overall, he hasn't played at a superstar level for the Mavericks. Albeit it partially on a minutes restriction and Davis doesn't fully look 100 percent yet and needs to play more like a superstar if he's on the floor, as he's only averaging 19.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game with shooting splits of 44.8/24.0/67.4 through games with the Mavericks thus far.

While obviously an extremely small sample size, Davis' time in Dallas this season would likely count as his worst shooting season percentage-wise since he's been in the league if it were a full season. Davis's offensive game is expansive with his array of post moves, his ability to act as a play finisher, as well as his face-up and midrange game, but it seems like his intensity on that side of the ball has only looked ideal occasionally.

There's an argument to be made Davis has been settling too much recently and should make a better effort to get to the rim, but more than anything the Mavericks have to do a better job at getting him involved offensively early and often, though that can be challenging at times with Dallas' lack of elite guard play currently. Fans saw this on display in Doncic's return, as the Los Angeles Lakers fronted Davis in the post and brought a help-side defender after he received any entry passes, and oftentimes, Dallas' spacing wasn't good enough to beat the trap.

Davis needs to play up to his par defensively more so than anything, though, especially when he has the ability to probe and freelance a little more as the four. Davis was dominant defensively versus the Rockets in his debut, and while it's uncanny to expect four or five block nights from him every game, he has to be a consistent threat as a help-side rim protector as well as someone who can consistently guard bigger wings.

The Lakers effectively took Davis out of Wednesday night's game to an extent, which was embarrassing considering the performance Doncic had as well as the fact that the two were traded for each other, but that's not necessarily in Davis's control, and he needs to worry about controlling the controllables right now. It's admirable that Davis pushed to fight back to come back as early as possible from his adductor strain, but it seems like it's limiting him from putting forth as much effort on both sides of the ball as possible all the time, whether it's more of a mental or physical issue.

Davis could've opted for season-ending surgery (if he would have ended up needing it), but opted to help Dallas' play-in push. While he's ramping up his minutes little by little and hasn't suffered any setbacks, he shouldn't be playing if he can't deliver at least 90 percent of the player he is on a night-to-night basis given how low of stakes Dallas' season has at this point as well as Davis'ss extensive injury history. Hopefully, Davis' on-court struggles are pertaining to him not being 100 percent health-wise, as it would honestly be worse if he were just this non-impactful through nearly 10 games in his Mavericks journey.

For now, all Mavericks fans can do is hope Davis closes this season stronger and suffers no more setbacks as far as injuries are concerned, as Dallas will have a much better shot at being competitive in the playoffs next season if a healthy Irving returns. Davis will have a shot at redemption from Wednesday later this evening when Dallas takes on Toronto at 7:30 p.m. in their last home game of the regular season, where we'll have you covered with the latest.