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

Case against the Dallas Mavericks being a top 3 team in the West?

The Mavs are 7-3, but it has been an extremely favorable schedule thus far. In ESPN’s BPI Playoff odds, Dallas has one win and three losses against teams favored to make the postseason, including three blowout L's to the Hawks, Nuggets, and Heat. Teams that finish in the top three need to defeat the other top teams too.

The Mavericks have a point differential of negative-2.3 after ten games, which ranks tenth in the Western Conference. They are 21st in the NBA in that category.

Furthermore, Dallas sits 23rd in offensive rating after ten games. The Mavericks have been in the top ten for two straight years, and they relied on outscoring the top teams to earn victories. New head coach Jason Kidd has changed up the team’s five-out scheme, and the spacing has been a bit off in the early going. Dallas cannot be a bottom ten offense and a top-three team in the West.

The Mavs take the sixth most 3-point attempts per game in the early going, but they sit 27th in percentage. Dallas just cannot hit from long range, despite Luka Doncic producing a ton of open looks.

There are plenty of reasons to think the Dallas Mavericks 7-3 start is a fluke but is it?