Dallas Mavericks could make playoffs by doing something only New York Knicks have done
The NBA trade deadline came and went without nary a sound from the Dallas Mavericks, who rather than add some beef or pop simply are reveling in their relevancy this season.
The playoffs begin April 18, and barring a collapse by the home team, the Mavs will still be playing. We are actually headed to a spring where the American Airlines Center will feature both the Dallas Stars and the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs together for the first time since 2016.
If the Mavs are to have any success in these 2020 playoffs and actually advance beyond the first round for the first time since 2011, when they won their NBA title, it would be best if they actually avoid playing at home at all. Just pack up and stay on the road.
No need to go home until it’s all over. The advantage of playing on the home floor is a myth for the Mavs this season.
After their 123-119 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday night, the Mavs are now 14-14 at home this season. As a result, the Mavs are on pace to do something historic this season.
According to my good friends at the Elias Sports Bureau, only once in NBA history has a team made the playoffs with a winning record overall, but not had a winning mark at home.
The 1947-48 New York Knicks made the playoffs with a 26-22 record, but they were 12-12 at the old Madison Square Garden. The only way we know James Dolan wasn’t running the Knicks way back then is because they actually made the playoffs.
There is a chance the Mavs could equal — or “better” — this mark made by a Knicks team that featured former legendary coach Butch van Breda Kolff.
Of the 16 teams that would be in the playoffs today, 14 have overall winning records. Of those 14 teams, the Mavs have the worst home record.
“We’ve just gotta pick it up at home. That’s the bottom line,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said Monday. “At this point, analyzing why something is or isn’t is maybe a small part of the solution. We have to do better.
“We have do better to start games, and throughout.”
Apparently Monday night was just not the night to start that trend.
Conversely, what the Mavericks have achieved on the road this season is the stunner. The Mavs’ 18-8 road record is second to only the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference. The Mavs are the fourth-best road team in the NBA overall.
Seldom are NBA teams that good on the road and that average at home.
A look at the Mavs schedule shows there’s a decent chance they could finish with a .500, or even sub-.500 home record and still make the playoffs.
Including their Monday date with the Jazz, eight of the Mavs’ final 14 home games are against teams with winning records. Of those eight games, six are against opponents currently ahead of the Mavs in the Western Conference.
Throw in additional home games against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers, and the Mavs’ remaining home schedule guarantees nothing but mostly difficult match-ups — a load of games they could potentially lose.
One-third of their schedule remains, meaning there is plenty of time for the Mavs’ to make their home something other than a destination that they want to avoid in April.
“This happens occasionally with NBA teams,” Carlisle said. “It’s happened to us in the past, not to this extreme.”
Given the way they have played so far at the ACC, and the quality of their remaining home opponents, there is a decent chance the 2019-20 Mavs will both make the playoffs, and history in the process.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
