Utah Jazz: 3 best possible NBA playoff first-round matchups
By Duncan Smith
Utah Jazz first-round opponent No. 2: Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks didn’t plan on being a play-in candidate, but thanks to a slow start and too many COVID complications to count, here they are. They sit seventh in the Western Conference with a 30-26 record thanks to finally getting it in gear as Luka Doncic heated up and the roster returned at mostly full strength.
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After initially voting in favor of the play-in tournament (it was passed unanimously by the NBA’s board of governors), Mavs owner Mark Cuban seems to have gotten cold feet about the whole situation. Now he regrets casting a vote in favor of the format, and that may or may not have something to do with the fact that his team is unexpectedly at risk.
Of course that makes us want the Dallas Mavericks to end up in the play-in.
Call it pettiness if you will, there’s something appealing about seeing the Mavs have to deal with this new scenario. In addition to that, Luka Doncic is a player who is bound to truly come of age in the playoffs, and thanks to him this team could end up punching way above its weight in the postseason.
The Mavs are probably too good to be a bottom seed, which means that the Jazz could find themselves very unfortunate to have to meet them in the first round.
Let’s see it happen.