Luka Doncic's Mavs Plummet in NBA Power Rankings Following Tough Week
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The Dallas Mavericks have hit a rough patch nearly halfway into the season, having lost six of their last nine games while juggling several different key injuries.
The latest loss was in blowout fashion, 127-90, to the Utah Jazz on Monday night in what was Dallas’ worst offensive performance of the season. After making their way into the top 10 of NBA.com’s weekly power rankings last week at No. 9, they fell six spots to No. 15 this week after going 1-3 in their last four games.
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Among one of the key takeaways from Dallas plummeting down the rankings was the defensive numbers of Sixth Man of the Year candidate Tim Hardaway Jr. Although he’s put forth a good effort on that end of the floor, the advanced numbers haven’t reflected that.
“Tim Hardaway Jr. is tied (with a former teammate) for the league lead with 19 charges drawn and he’s mostly come off the bench, so he’s mostly defended against other reserves,” John Schuhmann wrote.
“But the Mavs have been at their worst defensively (allowing 119.1 points per 100 possessions) with him on the floor. The Mavs blew a 20-point lead against the Cavs on Wednesday and a couple of critical Cleveland layups came with what looked like mistakes on Hardaway’s part, one failure to rotate and another failure to switch (or at least hedge) a back-screen.”
The Mavs now look ahead to a seven-game home stand, which will be their longest of the season. If Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II can all stay healthy, look for Dallas to make yet another climb up the power rankings ladder in the next two weeks.
