Two weeks ago, I wrote about the curious case of sort of rooting against the Mavericks. And I probably still should be hoping the team ends up with a lousy enough record to secure a top-three draft pick and another piece to build around after Dirk Nowitzki [drives to White Rock Lake; stares into the middle distance at some hazy point on the opposite shore for an hour before softly whispering, “I see you, Big German”; returns to office] retires.
But you know what? Forget that noise.
After Wesley Matthews’ game-winning three, the Mavericks are … still not great. Just 14-27 on the season. BUT. Here are some positive bullet points:
- The team is 5-3 in its last eight road games
- Better than that, the Mavs are 10-10 since a lopsided, dispiriting loss to the Kings dropped them to 4-17
- They are on a three-game win streak, their longest of the season which means …
- They are only three games out of the eighth seed in the playoffs
Yeah, I know: making the playoffs means (probably) getting swept by Golden State and getting another mid-round pick, and basically doing very little to help the future. I know that should be the goal, now, since another championship is so far in the future it gets around via personal jetpack and doesn’t even remember what paper was.
But it is hard to root for losses with such a legitimately fun group of guys. It’s not in my nature. Dirk is starting to come alive, after struggling with an Achilles injury for most of the season, averaging 16.4 over his last five and even throwing down (I’m using that term as loosely as a pair of fat-guy jeans in a weight loss commercial) a rare dunk against Phoenix, which resulted in some delightful tweets. Harrison Barnes is coming into his own as a 20-points-a-night scorer. Seth Curry is shooting like his brother, and sonned Rajon Rondo with a Sporcle quiz (!).
Maybe it will all fall apart again. But I guess I’m the kind of guy who’d rather get his heart broken than not care at all.
