Two and a Half Months Ago the Dallas Mavericks Were 19-10

On December 23 2024 the Mavericks picked up a solid win over the Portland Trail Blazers behind a dominant performance from Luka Doncic returning from two games where he was injured, improving to 19-10 and having won 14 of their past 17 games. This capped off a great calendar year of 2024 where they had an unexpected playoff run that ended in losing in five games in the NBA Finals. Behind a young core, 2025 and the future beyond that looked bright.

They are now on March 5 2024 32-31 having lost six of their last ten games, 21 of their last 34 and three straight. They have no Luka. Kyrie just tore his ACL. And their one big trade acquisition is injured as well and per Shams might just end his season right here. They are barely hanging onto the ten seed in the West just two and a half games ahead of the Suns.