5 Most crucial games left for the Dallas Mavericks this season

4. March 1 game against the Boston Celtics

The Dallas Mavericks' game on March 1 against the Boston Celtics has the least impact on any playoff seeding implications for the Mavericks out of any of the other games featured on this list. However, the Mavericks need to make a statement at the culmination of their four-game Eastern Conference road trip against Boston, as Dallas was severely out-talented the last time the two teams played in Dallas.

The Mavericks' trade deadline additions will help deal with the Celtics’ length and physicality in the frontcourt, but the Celtics have arguably been the best team in the NBA so far this season and are objectively a better team than the Mavericks at the moment. The Mavericks have to make a stand against Boston on the road, even if they don’t outright win the game. The Mavericks are already off to a bad start on their Eastern Conference road trip with Sunday night’s blowout loss to Indiana, so it’s important Dallas shows that they can compete with some of the NBA’s best post trade deadline.

Dallas exerted too many resources at the trade deadline to get blown out by elite teams, so the Mavericks need to anchor down on defense for the rest of this road trip so they can prove that their seven-game winning streak wasn’t a fluke. The Celtics are dynamic on defense across the board and everyone in their starting lineup has the ability to create offense for themselves.

The Mavericks have some vendettas against the Celtics when you take into consideration that former Mavericks' big man Kristaps Porzingis having a great season for the Celtics and Boston is one of Kyrie Irving's failed former stops. Containing the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown isn't a walk in the park, but Dallas needs to play gritty enough on defense to where fans can see they can compete with teams on the level of the Celtics, as Porzingis didn't even suit up in the first contest between the two teams and Dallas still got blown out.