Mavs move closer to clinching the No. 7 seed

OKLAHOMA CITY – No one in their right mind will admit that they want to play the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. That’s just not a macho thing for NBA players to say.

Thus, Wednesday’s game between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder went a long ways towards determining who will be the unfortunate team that will likely be eliminated by the Warriors in the opening round of the upcoming playoffs.

The Mavs’ wild 135-131 victory over the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena helped give Dallas a stronghold on the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference standings. With just seven games remaining in the regular season, the Mavs (46-29) hold a four-game lead – and the tie-breaker -- over OKC (42-33) in the race to avoid playing the Warriors in the postseason’s opening round.

"This was a huge win,’’ center Tyson Chandler said. "It’s almost a must-win, especially with (the Thunder) in the eighth seed and sitting right behind us.

"It was one that we definitely needed to get.’’

With sixth-seed San Antonio now three games ahead of Dallas, the Mavs are closing in on locking up the No. 7 seed.

"We all know how important this game was,’’ said forward Chandler Parsons, who scored 13 of his 22 point sin the fourth quarter. "We needed this one in a bad way.

"It’s huge, especially this time of the year -- every win is so big for us. We’re playing for the highest possible seed in the playoffs.’’

Any seed, in effect, which would avoid a first-round pairing with the Warriors, is a pretty good seed for the Mavs and others in their shoes. Particularly since the Warriors are heavily favored to win the NBA title this season.

"Golden State is playing well, and in the Western Conference anybody can be beat in a seven-game series,’’ backup center Amar’e Stoudemire said. "You take your hat off to what Golden State is doing.

"They’ve been playing great basketball, excellent defensively. But yeah, it’s going to be a tough matchup in that first round for whoever is in the eighth seed.’’

This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 1:22 AM with the headline "Mavs move closer to clinching the No. 7 seed."