Dallas Mavericks: Are they a top 3 team in the West?

The Dallas Mavericks dominated the shorthanded Pelicans on Nov. 8 to move to 7-3 on the young season, and it put Dallas tied for the third-best record in the NBA. After the Utah Jazz won on Tuesday night, the Mavs sit third in the Western Conference, and superstar Luka Doncic still has not played his best basketball.

The Mavs have not started 7-3 or better in a season since 2014, but fans are not sold on their play. Dallas has had a favorable early slate, they are not blowing out lottery-bound teams, and the Mavericks have been dominated in all three defeats against playoff squads from last season. They have only defeated one team that qualified for the postseason through ten contests.

The Mavs are winning against teams they are supposed to defeat, which is important when trying to climb in the standings. They sit third after ten games, but is Dallas a top-three team in the Western Conference? Let us examine further.

Are the Dallas Mavericks a top 3 team in the Western Conference?

Ten games are still a small sample. Just last season, Dallas was 6-4 before slipping to 9-14 after multiple players entered the health and safety protocol. The Mavericks bounced back to finish 42-30 and finish fifth in the Western Conference.

Detractors will point to the schedule and the team’s poor shooting to start the 2021-2022 season as reasons why the Dallas Mavericks won’t last in the top three but are they right? Here is the case for and against Dallas being in the Western Conference’s top three before trying to reach a verdict.