The 6-game win streak came to an end against the New York Knicks last night, but the Mavs showed improvements and competitiveness against one of the toughest schedules lately with key absentees and so climb into the Top5 in the latest rankings. Here's your overview:
Six-game win streak gets Lincinerated Sunday at the Garden.
The Mavs lost Delonte West to a broken finger on Wednesday, but with Jason Kidd healthy, their starting lineup is a plus-60 in 69 minutes over the last six games, scoring a ridiculous 117 points per 100 possessions. Despite Sunday's loss in New York, Dallas had a strong week against a tough schedule.
SheridanHoops.com - Chris Sheridan: 5th
The showcasing of Shawn Marion’s defensive prowess continues. As I have been telling you for weeks, the Mavs would move him for an expiring contract to clear the cap room to make max offers to Deron Williams and Dwight Howard. Matrix, 33, has recently defended point guards Ricky Rubio, Chris Paul, Ty Lawson, Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams. Advice to Mark Cuban: Trade him East.
Brutal schedule last week and they came out looking good with wins over the 76ers, Clippers and Nuggets (the lone loss was to Linsanity on Sunday). When Dirk Nowitzki is clicking this whole offense comes together.
A strong week from the Mavericks until the team fell victim to Linsanity in New York. There's just still something missing from the champs.
During its six-game winning streak, Dallas held opponents to 89.5 ppg on 39.2 percent shooting while Dirk took his total of 30-point games to three this month after none in his first 19 games. Translation: The champs can still be a title contender with that formula even when their main focus is 2012 free agency.
ESPN - John Holinger's Metric: 6th
Teamrankings.com - Power Ratings: 6th
HoopsStats.com - Efficiency Differential: 6th
MavsMoneyball - j0Shi's Schedule Adjusted Efficiencies: 13th