The Dallas Mavericks will play in the NBA Play-In Tournament for the first time since its inception in 2021 (technically 2020 in the Bubble, but it went to four teams in each conference in 2021). They enter as the 10th seed in the Western Conference and will play the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night, and will have to win two road games to make the playoffs to play the Oklahoma City Thunder.
So, how have the 10 seeds performed in the Play-In? Is there any precedence that they could make a run?
READ MORE: Mavericks’ postseason path revealed after loss to Grizzlies
In both the Eastern and Western Conferences, the 10 seeds are a combined 2-6, with the wins both coming in 2023. The Oklahoma City Thunder smoked the New Orleans Pelicans, who were playing without Zion Williamson. The Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat in the infamous game where DeMar DeRozan’s daughter was screaming her head off. But neither team would win the second game to advance to the playoffs, meaning the 10 seed has never advanced to the playoffs before from the Play-In game.
Dallas will attempt to make NBA history by becoming the first 10-seed to make the playoffs. If they beat the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, they’ll play the loser of the Memphis Grizzlies-Golden State Warriors game. And it’s not like the Mavericks performed well against any of these teams. The Kings swept the three-game series this season, Memphis won 3-1 (and could’ve been a 4-0 sweep if they didn’t choke in the In-Season Tournament qualifiers), and Golden State is 20-7 since the All-Star Break. The Mavericks did beat them before the All-Star Break, but Dallas had Kyrie Irving available for that game,
The Mavs sat most of their key players on Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies, punting any chance of possibly getting the 9th seed. Sacramento won so it ended up not mattering, but they prioritized health over possibly building more chemistry with a team that hasn’t had the chance to build a lot of it since the disastrous Luka Doncic trade due to injuries.
That first game against the Kings will be at 9 p.m. CST on ESPN on Wednesday night.
READ MORE: Mavericks dominated by Grizzlies in final game of regular season, 132-97
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