Imaging reading this sentence to a Dallas Mavericks fan in January: the Mavericks are eliminated from playoff contention after a 120-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies despite a 40-point game from Anthony Davis. They would probably tell you you're crazy, right?

Well here we are, and the Mavericks are heading home despite a masterful game from Davis on the offensive end of the floor. The star big man limped through the second half with what appeared to be multiple leg injuries and continued to get buckets time and time again despite it. However, he was unable to delay the inevitable, and now the Mavericks are staring down the darkness of the offseason.

This season wasn't always trending this way for Dallas. Before the shocking trade that sent Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and brought Davis to Dallas, the Mavs seemed to be cruising toward the playoffs even despite Doncic's calf strain that had kept him out for nearly six weeks.

Before the trade, the Mavericks had a 70% chance to make the playoffs, according to SportsCenter. Now, they are headed hime with just a taste of a pair of play-in games.

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Of course, the Doncic trade isn't the only factor that goes into that, even if it is the biggest domino to fall as he and the Lakers gear up for a playoff run of their own. The Mavericks also seemingly made a mistake by flipping Quentin Grimes for Caleb Martin before Grimes started to go off on a nightly basis in Philadelphia.

The Mavericks also suffered from an insane amount of injuries over the back half of the season. Davis missed time with a groin strain. Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively missed extended time as well. Then, at the beginning of March, Kyrie Irving tore his ACL, which is an injury that will bleed into next season as well.

Regardless of all of the factors that went into the late-season slide and the eventual ugly exit that took place in Memphis on Friday night, it is clear that the Mavericks have a lot of soul-searching to do this offseason after spiraling out of the postseason picture.