3 things to watch as the Mavericks meet the Suns
Mavericks seek a winning record and to maintain their play-in edge
The Dallas Mavericks (32-32) wrap up their two-game homestand Sunday with a matinee 2:30pm CST tip against the Phoenix Suns (29-34).
Dallas enters this contest on a four-game slide after falling 122-111 Friday to the Memphis Grizzlies, outlasted in a back-and-forth affair which featured a genuinely admirable effort from head coach Jason Kidd’s third-quarter-of-a-preseason-game rotation of healthy players.
The DOGE-ification of the Mavericks, in which many years of hard work by talented individuals like longtime athletic trainer Casey Smith and five-time First Team All-NBA guard Luka Dončić are systematically devalued by rich and powerful dipshits until only ashes remain,
has set the team on an express elevator downward from championship finalist to the mediocrity treadmill, but Dallas maintains a 2.5-game advantage over the Suns in the standings as the two clubs scrap over 10th place and a claim to the Western Conference’s final participation trophy, the bottom seed in the play-in tournament.
Sunday’s game will be the second of a four-game road swing for the Suns, who lost 149-141 Friday to Denver after erasing a 21-point deficit to force overtime, a game after roaring back from down 23 late in the third quarter to respond to booing home fans and beat the Clippers Tuesday, 119-117.
A loss to the team looking to leapfrog them would put the Mavericks a step closer to the draft lottery, where a selection from the deep class expected in 2025 could help begin the rebuild they need, provided that Mavericks general manager and recently activated Lakers sleeper cell agent Nico Harrison can be prevented from packaging that pick and an additional future first-rounder to acquire James Worthy.
