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Week in Review: Mavs’ playoff hopes dealt huge blow

By Joe Boikess | March 24th, 2008

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This time last week, the Mavs were coming off five straight blowout wins, all against lesser competition from the Eastern Conference. Throughout the short streak the team showed some signs of getting into a groove, playing as if their lives depended on it. The big wins were nice confidence boosters, yet somewhat hollow. Still winless against teams with records above .500, Dallas knew that they had to prove themselves by beating a worthy opponent. This past week was their best opportunity, as the Lakers, Celtics and Spurs visited the AAC where the Mavs don’t often lose. Making it eight straight would certainly catapult them back toward the top of the West and give them a chance to gain homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Unfortunately, Dallas wasn’t able to win those three games. Against the Lakers, horrendous shooting led to an early 25-point deficit, which the Mavs nearly completely erased before falling two points short at the end. The Mavs also led Boston for most of the second half on Thursday, yet somehow they forgot to guard Ray Allen in the final minute and couldn’t finish. And now today against San Antonio, the Mavs put themselves in a good position early with some excellent defense coupled by the Spurs’ inability to hit shots. Then in the third quarter with the Mavs fighting to end San Antonio’s 11-0 run, Dirk Nowitzki went up to block Ime Udoka’s layup attempt, fell and landed awkwardly on his left leg, crumpling to the floor in pain. He didn’t return, and the Mavs couldn’t keep it close after that.

The postgame word from Mark Cuban is that Nowitzki will miss at least two weeks with what the team is calling simply a “left lower leg injury.” Now the official word is that Nowitzki has a high ankle sprain as well as a mild knee sprain and is out “indefinitely.” But even if the injury isn’t as bad as expected, Dirk is going to miss at least two week’s worth of games. His absence couldn’t come at a worse time, as the Mavs are coming off three straight losses and currently sit at only a half game ahead of the eighth seeded Warriors in the standings. They have games coming up against teams like Denver, Golden State (twice) and the Lakers, and the majority of those are on the road.

At this point, forget about trying to get homecourt advantage. It’s not inconceivable that these Mavericks, a team that made the Finals only a couple of years ago and was the best team in the regular season last year, could miss the playoffs. From here on out, every game could determine whether the Mavericks play into May. Without their franchise player leading them for some (or all) of the remaining schedule, the rest of the supporting cast must play as if their collective lives depended on it.

Think of it this way: they’re in critical condition and on the verge of going on life support. Avery Johnson and the coaches are going to have to figure out how to help Jason Kidd notch triple-double type numbers and Josh Howard put up 30+ points every night, because that could be what it takes to keep this team from flat lining.

Record: 0-3 (season: 44-26, 7th in West, 4th in Southwest)

ESPN.com Power Ranking: #14 (Last week: #8)
NBA.com Power Ranking: #14 (Last week: #10)

Player of the Week: Dirk Nowitzki - even though the Mavs weren’t able to notch a win this week, Dirk has done his best to carry them with his shooting, rebounding and interior defense. He had a monster 35-point, 11-rebound, 5-block performance against the Lakers followed by a 22-19 showing versus Boston. He was on his way to another solid game on Sunday until the injury bug finally bit him for the first time this season. Without him, the Mavs are going to struggle over the next couple of weeks to stay in the playoff picture.

Little General Quote of the Week:

“This is a challenging period for us. But there is no surrender, there is no withdrawal, there is no backing up. We’ve got to meet it head-on.”

- Johnson, on the team mindset going forward without Dirk (via Dallas Morning News)

This Week (full schedule):
Tue. 3/25 vs. Clippers
Thu. 3/27 @ Nuggets
Sun. 3/30 @ Warriors

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Los Angeles Lakers, Week in Review, Dirk Nowitzki, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.