Mavericks continue to slide in week 9 power rankings

The Dallas Mavericks dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night for their first win of the season without superstar Luka Doncic. The 22-year-old will miss multiple games with an ankle injury, and the Mavs are already struggling. They have lost nine of their last 13 and sit just 13-13 on the season and seventh in the Western Conference.

Dallas has a packed schedule with nine games before the calendar flips to 2022. With Luka out, the Mavericks could see their woes continue and may face an uphill climb to avoid the play-in tournament during the 2022 portion of their schedule.

They continue to slip in the weekly power rankings too. Here is a look at where Dallas stands heading into week nine and what the Mavs need to do to improve going forward.

Dallas Mavericks continue to slide in weekly power rankings

The Athletic placed the Mavs 15th and squarely in the middle of the pack in their rankings (subscription required). Dallas was 18th in CBS Sports, NBA.com’s set, and ESPN’s ranks.

The Mavericks should not be a below-average team, but they are. They need to get Luka Doncic back healthy and make a trade to upgrade their roster. Dallas is 22nd in offensive rating this season, despite having one of the league’s best creators. The Mavs finished inside the top eight in each of the last two years and must find their offense if they are going to make a run in the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see if Dallas can break out of their season-long shooting slump and climb in the Western Conference standings. They should be better, but roster upgrades are necessary to.o. The best is still yet to come from the Dallas Mavericks. They need to make it happen fast to get back in the top ten of the power rankings, so stay tuned to see how it all shakes out.