The Dallas Mavericks‘ roller coaster season continued on Wednesday with a dramatic 120-118 win over the Atlanta Hawks thanks to some late-game heroics from a bloodied Anthony Davis.
At the end of the first quarter, Davis took an accidental elbow from fellow big man Daniel Gafford, which left a gash over his eye. He immediately went to the locker room to have his eye examined, and it seemed as though his night may be over. However, he was cleared to return shortly before halftime and made his way back onto the court sporting a large bandage.
Davis didn’t miss a beat, and turned in his best performance for the Mavericks since his debut in February, which he also left with an injury — albeit a much more serious one.
As time wound down, the Mavericks were in danger of choking away a double-digit fourth-quarter lead, but had the ball with the shot clock turned off. To little surprise, the ball went to Davis and he went to work at the top of the key. He couldn’t get all the way to the rim due to solid defense from Onyeka Okongwu, but measured his floater perfectly to put the Mavs ahead with 3.4 seconds remaining.
Down on the other end, Davis closed the show by forcing Trae Young into an airball.
Davis finished with 34 points on 14 of 23 from the field, 15 rebounds and five blocks for his highest-scoring effort in a Mavericks uniform. He also joined Gafford as the only players in franchise history to record a game with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.
With the win, the Mavericks improved to 38-39 on the season, which has them in ninth place in the Western Conference. They are now 2.5 games ahead of the 11th-place Phoenix Suns and closing in on a Play-In Tournament berth. While the Suns do hold the tiebreaker between the clubs, they have lost four in a row and do not appear interested in making any sort of turnaround.
The Mavericks’ season has not gone the way anyone expected, inside or outside of the organization. At this point, given all of their injuries, both short and long-term, they would be better off in the lottery. The good news for them is that is not only still possible, but likely.
Assuming they make the Play-In Tournament, the Mavericks will be the No. 9 or No. 10 seed, which means they would have to win two games on the road — one against the Sacramento Kings or Suns, and then one against the loser of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game — to make the playoffs. If they don’t and are eliminated from the Play-In Tournament, they would be sent to the lottery.
