03-29-2026, 06:31 AM
(03-28-2026, 11:15 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: A little analysis of our last 8 games, and how hard I believe it will be for the Mavs to lose. I have a little 4-point rating system for that - 1, easy loss, 4, almost impossible to lose.
1. Monday, March 30 vs. the Wolves. Home game for the Mavs, which I don't consider to matter much this year. Wolves not on a back-to-back, and need the win for playoff positioning. This is a 1.
2. Tuesday, March 31 @ Bucks. This would normally be a 4, but it's a SEGABABA for us on the road, and not a back to back for the Bucks in spite of their very high tanking priority. I'd say it's a 2.
3. Friday, April 3 vs. Orlando. The Magic are really shaky lately, but they need this game for playoff positioning. A 2.
4. Sunday, April 5 vs. the Lakers. LOL, this is a 1.
5. Tuesday, April 7 @ Clippers. The Clippers are shaky too, but they need this to stay in the top half of the play-in. A 2.
6. Wednesday, April 8 @ Suns. I'm nervous about this game because I believe the Suns will have locked in at 7 by this point and might be resting players, but it's SEGABABA on the road for us. It's also a SEGABABA for them, but they're substantially better than us right now. A 3, goes down to 2 if the Suns aren't resting players and want to win.
7. Friday, April 10 @ Spurs. I don't trust this game, and I especially don't trust that hoser Popovich. The Spurs would usually crush us like a grape, but they might be resting players at this point, and as I said elsewhere, Pop loves to force-feed us wins when we're tanking. A 3 based on my wariness alone.
8. Sunday, April 12 vs. the Bulls. Ugh. The Bulls will likely be desperate for a loss at this point, and they're completely hapless anyway. If we've done our job up to this point and the Grizz and Pels have won at least one more game each, we'll be able to win this one safely. If we desperately need to lose, we're going to have to sit nearly everyone or play Cisse at the point. A quite high 4.
Nice breakdown. Games 2 & 6 are convenient with the B2B. They can rest some guys without raising too many eyebrows. Games 7 & 8 are where you do whatever is necessary. Utah is basically pulling people out of the stands to play their 4th quarters now and they're getting away with it.