Dallas Mavericks: Weaker West Provides Hope

By Cole Mentzel | Nov 19, 2015

Nov 18, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons (25) shoots a free throw against the Boston Celtics in the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /

The Western Conference has not been as dominant so far this season and that has given the Dallas Mavericks a sliver of hope.

The Dallas Mavericks are off to an 8-4 start which is good for the third-best record in the Western Conference and the fifth-best record in the entire NBA.

Many things are playing into this fast start for the Mavs. First, they have come together as a team despite still battling a few injuries. Chandler Parsons continues to recover from knee surgery and Wesley Matthews is not playing back-to-backs until he is back to 100 percent.

Next, they have Rick Carlisle, who recently signed a big five-year extension. As arguably the second-best coach in the NBA today, the Mavs have a great basketball-minded individual who tends to see the game differently than others. Carlisle has really pushed the Mavs and is, yet again, proving his high-quality level to the team.

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Lastly, the biggest thing providing the Mavs with early opportunities is the weakened Western Conference that features a few teams with shocking records so far.

Perhaps the most surprising of them all is the 1-11 New Orleans Pelicans, led by Anthony Davis. They were set to see an increased role in the West after being swept in the first round of the playoffs last season, however, they have not been able to find ways to win and will be without Tyreke Evans until late December.

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The Houston Rockets, who just fired Kevin McHale, is another team that is struggling despite a trip to the Western Conference Finals last season. Then there are teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder that are hovering around .500 and can’t get any real consistency going.

It could be that the West is finally starting to settle down due to the amount of talent in the conference but it is most likely just a slow start, which will create a more lethal conference later on in the season.

Either way, the Mavs are benefitting from all of the issues. They knew that they would have a few limitations to start the season off such as Chandler Parsons’ minutes restrictions, JaVale McGee‘s conditioning and Wesley Matthews continued recovery.

Their ability to get off to a fast start is really helping them out and getting them prepared for a tough part of their schedule that will hit near the end of November and beginning of December. In one of my articles before the season began, I mentioned that a fast start to the season would be huge for the Mavs and so far, that is playing into their advantage.

They are getting plenty of time to fine-tune their chemistry so once things get tougher, they will be ready and they will have a team at full strength.

One key element of this early run has been the ability to rest key players and still pick up wins. For example, the Mavs rested Matthews, Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki in their 110-98 victory over the Houston Rockets last week. Granted the Rockets haven’t been playing well, as mentioned above, it was still nice to see the bench getting a quality win.

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Overall, the Mavs need to take advantage of whatever is going on with the West right now because it surely won’t last. For a team that wasn’t expected to be much of a factor, the Mavs are using key stretches to prove everyone wrong.

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