The Dallas Mavericks are on a four-game road trip and are now in Toronto to play the Raptors.
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The Dallas Mavericks are on a four-game road trip and are now in Toronto to play the Raptors. They were on a roll with seven straight wins, which put them in fifth place in the Western Conference. However, they lost to Indiana at the start of this trip and are now back in seventh place in the crowded Western Conference playoff race.
The Raptors have won three games in a row, bringing their record to 22-36. However, they’re still three games behind for the last play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. The game starts at 7:30 PM EST.
The Western Conference playoff race is always changing, and a single win can make a big difference, moving a team up or down by two or three spots in the standings.
For the Raptors, Nowell (hamstring injury) and Poeltl (ankle injury) will not be playing the game. As for the Mavericks, Exum will be sitting this one out due to a knee injury.
The Dallas Mavericks are a prime example of this. They’ve been all over the place in the standings this season and are currently in 7th place. They’re fighting with the Suns, Pelicans, and Kings for the fourth spot in the playoffs and the chance to have home-court advantage in the first round.
On Tuesday night in Cleveland, the Mavs’ dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving seemed to be steering the team towards a big road victory. But a last-second layup by PJ Washington with 2.1 seconds left put the Mavs in a tight spot. Then, Max Strus hit a 58-foot 3-pointer, crushing the Mavs’ hopes and leading to a 122-121 loss. Doncic had an incredible game with 45 points, 14 assists, and 9 rebounds, while Irving added 30 points.
The Toronto Raptors haven’t thrown in the towel this season, even after losing key players like Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. On Monday night, they went into Indiana and beat the high-scoring Pacers 130-122.
Scott Barnes had his fourth triple-double of the season, scoring 21 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 12 assists. RJ Barrett also had a great game, scoring 24 points. The win also meant that head coach Darko Rajakovic would keep his promise to take the team out to dinner if they won three straight games.
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