Every good thing must come to an end eventually, and the Dallas Mavericks’ seven-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse when they were defeated 133-111 by the Indiana Pacers.
In spite of the fact that the winning run attracted a lot of attention and led many, including Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, to label Dallas as title contenders and Luka Doncic as an MVP candidate, Mavs guard Kyrie Irving stated it won’t matter much in the big picture.
“It’s good to go on a win streak and have that success, but that doesn’t mean s*** in the regular season,” Irving stated. “That’s a different mindset and mentality until later in life when we are aware of where our seeing is.” For now, it only involves small steps forward.”
Irving finished with 29 points, including a nine-point scoring run in the fourth quarter that pulled the Mavs (33-24) to within four points, but the Pacers answered with a 16-2 run that blew the game wide open. With 33 points, six rebounds, and six of the team’s season-low 15 assists, Luka Doncic also had a fantastic day.
The Mavs have become the topic of the NBA thanks to their run, particularly in their last four games after adding P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford at the trade deadline. Prior to falling to Indiana (33-25), Dallas enjoyed a seven-game winning streak that included victories over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns. Dallas had risen to the No. 6 seed in the West.
Although Dallas still needs to work on getting the ball into the correct hands after scoring nine points in a row, losing on the road to one of the best teams in the East is not anything to laugh at or cause for alarm. It also serves as evidence of how narrow the Mavs’ margin of error may be for the remainder of the season if they hope to escape the play-in round.
Dallas was momentarily demoted from the sixth to the eighth seed as a result of the loss. With about 25 games left for each club in the regular season, the standings can change at any time. In the West, the No. 5 and No. 10 seeds are separated by four games.
