The Dallas Mavericks extended their winning streak to a season-long six games entering the All-Star break, beating Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs 116-93 at American Airlines Center. Kyrie Irving dominated for Dallas, finishing with 34 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 15-of-22 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.
After the game, though, the eight-time All-Star wasn't interested in highlight yet another stellar individual performance amid a season quietly full of them. Instead, Irving couldn't help but evoke the Larry O'Brien Trophy when asked what's next for his new-look team over the season's stretch run.
“Getting in better shape over All-Star break, taking this All-Star break very serious and knowing what's ahead of us,” he told Jeff ‘Skin' Wade of Bally Sports Southwest. “The big-picture is going after a championship, but it's about incremental growth, incremental progress and just trusting each other. We're having fun out here. Six in a row is cool, but we're not satisfied. We know coming back from All-Star break teams are gonna continue to give us their best shot. We made the trades, that's great. Now we can move on from it emotionally and focus on what we gotta do in the x's and o's.”
KAI WANTS A RING#MFFL @noahweber00 pic.twitter.com/VLdOq0jxt7
— MFFL (@Mavs_FFL) February 15, 2024
New-look Mavericks surging at All-Star break
The win moves the Mavs to a season-best nine games over .500 at 32-23, good for seventh-place in the Western Conference. They're just a game behind the New Orleans Pelicans in the standings and only half a game up on the Sacramento Kings.
Obviously, securing a top-six record to avoid the play-in tournament should be Dallas' utmost priority after the All-Star break. Breaking into the West's first four would be ideal, affording the Mavericks home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but that's going to an extremely difficult feat for any team to pull off.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets have been the class of the conference for months. The defending champs are slumping a bit amid the 82-game grind, but they're still three games up on the Phoenix Suns for fourth-place.
Luka Doncic is a postseason trump card anyway. If Dallas hits its post-trade deadline ceiling, there's a chance this team won't need the benefit of home court to go on a deep playoff run.
The sample size is small, but early returns on the Mavs' trades for PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford are extremely encouraging. Jason Kidd's team is 3-0 with them in the fold, including a 35-point blowout of the Thunder in Washington and Gafford's debut.
Wednesday's win provided the best glimpse we've had at Dallas' deep new frontcourt, too. Rookie center Dereck Lively II returned from a seven-game absence against the Spurs, coming off the bench behind Gafford to give the Mavs a two-headed monster of rim-running and shot-blocking in the middle. Gafford finished with a double-double, while Lively had eight points, five rebounds and four blocks in just 17 minutes while registering a team-best +27 plus-minus.
Does winning a championship still count as a lofty for Dallas? No doubt. But no one wants to see Doncic nor Irving in the playoffs, and the Mavs are certainly more athletic and dynamic on both sides of the ball after the trade deadline.
Keep an eye on Dallas once the season resumes next week. Where the revamped Mavs settle in out West could loom extremely large to the title race, even if they're not ultimately top-tier threats to win it.
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