10 Most important games on Dallas Mavericks' 2024-25 schedule

6. and 5. Back-to-back home games against the Denver Nuggets in January

The Mavericks will have two of their most important games in back-to-back games. On January 12 and January 14, the Mavericks will host the Denver Nuggets. Having both of these games at home is very crucial for the Mavs.

Around this time in January, it could be likely that the Mavs and Nuggets will be close to each other in the Western Conference standings. The Mavs need to knock off the Nuggets and be ahead of them in the standings, and having two consecutive games at home in January is a perfect time for the Mavs to get ahead of the Nuggets.

The Mavs winning both games would send a good message to the Nuggets that they can compete with any team, especially after the Mavs were ranked below the Nuggets in a power rankings preview. The Mavs have extra motivation to be ahead of the Nuggets for next season.

These two games are also perfect games for Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic to show who can potentially be the 2024-25 MVP too. Doncic can also have extra motivation to show off in front of Jokic at home after Doncic finished third in MVP voting last season to Jokic who won the MVP last season. And, Doncic has more motivation with being second on FanDuel to win next season's MVP behind Jokic.

Having back-to-back games against the Nuggets at home in January will be two games that will determine the standings, MVP race, and momentum in the middle of the season.