6 Mavericks in the running for NBA Awards (and their chances of winning)

The Dallas Mavericks are 49-30 after last night's road victory over the Charlotte Hornets, and this team continues to stay hot as the season will come to a close shortly.

The Mavs are showing the world that they are serious contenders every single game, and no team in the Western Conference should want to see them. Getting hot at the end of the season matters, and that's why almost everyone is so high on the Mavs right now.

Their defense has improved significantly over the last two months, and fans should be excited about Dallas' chances of making a deep playoff run.

6 Mavericks in the running for NBA Awards (and their chances of winning)

While the team performance of his team has been excellent, there are several individual players who are up or should be up for awards at the end of this season.

Dallas has a handful of guys who could be up for various awards this season, and it'll be exciting to see who wins the awards.

Here are five Dallas Mavericks players who are in the running or should be in the running for end-of-season awards.

6. Kyrie Irving - Clutch Player of the Year

Kyrie Irving remains one of the best clutch players in the NBA in his 13th season, and he continues to show this on a nightly basis.

Although Irving doesn't lead the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring as he did last year, he still remains a top closer in the NBA and has a clutch gene that is hard to come by. This season in the fourth quarter, Irving is averaging 7.0 points while shooting 50.7 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from downtown, and 91.2 percent from the free-throw line. Irving takes his game to the next level when it matters most, and Dallas Mavericks fans saw that firsthand on Sunday afternoon.

Irving scored 25 of his 48 points in the fourth quarter and overtime combined on Sunday, and he willed the Mavs to victory. He has even shown that he is arguably a better closer than Luka Doncic, and that's saying something.

Irving's top play of the season was a game-winning left-handed floater to beat the Denver Nuggets, and if that play doesn't scream Clutch Player of the Year, I don't know what does.

When it comes to the clutch, Irving is elite. In the clutch, he is averaging 4.2 points, shooting 60 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from downtown, and 95.5 percent from the free-throw line. Irving always stays calm and collected as the clock winds down, and his ability to flip the switch at the end of games is unreal.

Irving is likely a longshot to win this awaard, but these stats show that he deserves to be in the conversation.