The Mavericks were officially eliminated from postseason contention after they lost to Golden State in overtime on Monday.
Dallas dropped to 23-49 with its latest defeat, while the Warriors — who are currently the No. 10 seed in the West — improved to 34-38. The Mavericks only have 10 games left in the regular season, so they have no way to make up the 11-game deficit.
It’s been a long season for the Mavs, who were 5-15 after 20 games. There was a brief stretch in mid-January when they looked like they might make a push for the play-in tournament, having held a 19-26 record after a four-game winning streak, but then they lost 10 consecutive contests. They have gone just 4-23 since Jan. 22.
Injuries have been a major issue for Dallas in 2025/26. Kyrie Irving will miss the entire season after sustaining a torn ACL in March 2025; Anthony Davis had multiple health issues before he was traded ahead of the February deadline; Dereck Lively II only played seven games prior to suffering a season-ending foot injury, which required surgery; Dante Exum didn’t play at all this season due to a knee injury, which required surgery.
P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford have both missed significant time as well, and Gafford was forced to leave Monday’s game due to a right shoulder contusion, per the team (Twitter link).
The Mavs are currently No. 6 in the reverse standings, giving them a 9.0% chance at landing the No. 1 pick and 37.2% odds of moving into the top four. They joined Indiana, Washington, Sacramento, Brooklyn and Utah as teams that have been eliminated from postseason contention.
Dallas had just a 1.8% chance of claiming last year’s top pick, jumping up from No. 11 to No. 1 when the team won the draft lottery last May. It was the first time in 17 lottery appearances that the Mavericks ended up with a better pick than their odds dictated. They selected Duke standout Cooper Flaggwho is having an excellent rookie season despite the team’s poor results.
In other news from the Southwest, San Antonio clinched the division title with a win and a loss by Houston. The Spurs are two wins or two Lakers losses from securing, at worst, the No. 2 seed in the West, notes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link).
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