The Mavs made some progress this week in their quest for the 2019 Playoffs.  Although they dropped to 4 games back in the division due to Memphis’ big 4-0 week (including a win over the Mavs), they made up 1/2 a game in the Western Conference Standings, now just 2 games back of the 8 seed.

The biggest improvement they made was not in the standings but in the way they competed on the court.  They are starting to look like a team on the defensive end, giving up only 91 ppg this week against good teams in the Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, and Memphis Grizzlies.

The Mavs have a light week with just 2 games, both at home:  Wednesday against Brooklyn and Saturday against Boston.  The West, and the Division, looked to be crammed this year so it is important to keep this momentum rolling and show progress each week.

Southwest Division Standings:

Team	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
Memphis Grizzlies	11	5	0.688	—
New Orleans Pelicans	10	7	0.588	1.5
Houston Rockets	8	7	0.533	2.5
San Antonio Spurs	8	8	0.5	3
Dallas Mavericks (13)	7	9	0.438	4

Western Conference Standings:

Western Conference	W	L	W/L%	GB
Portland Trail Blazers (1)	12	5	0.706	—
Memphis Grizzlies (2)	11	5	0.688	0.5
Golden State Warriors (3)	12	6	0.667	0.5
Los Angeles Clippers (4)	11	6	0.647	1
Oklahoma City Thunder (5)	10	6	0.625	1.5
New Orleans Pelicans (6)	10	7	0.588	2
Denver Nuggets (6)	10	7	0.588	2
Los Angeles Lakers (8)	9	7	0.563	2.5
Houston Rockets (9)	8	7	0.533	3
Sacramento Kings (10)	9	8	0.529	3
San Antonio Spurs (11)	8	8	0.5	3.5
Utah Jazz (12)	8	9	0.471	4
Dallas Mavericks (13)	7	9	0.438	4.5
Minnesota Timberwolves (14)	7	10	0.412	5
Phoenix Suns (15)	3	13	0.188	8.5

Western Conference Power Rankings:

Biggest Gainer:  Oklahoma City ↑5.

Biggest Losers:  Houston ↓5

1. Portland Trailblazers (12-5, 1^st) (2-1 this week) ↑1 – Next Week: @MIL, @GSW, LAC.
2. Memphis Grizzlies (11-5, 2^nd) (4-0 this week) ↑4 – Next Week: @SAS, @LAC, NYK, TOR.
3. LA Clippers (11-6, 4^th) (3-1 this week) ↔ – Next week: MEM, @POR.
4. Golden State Warriors (12-6 overall, 3^rd in West) (0-3 this week) ↓3 – Next Week: OKC, POR, SAC, ORL.
5. OKC Thunder (10-6, 5^th) (2-1 this week) ↓1 – Next Week: @GSW, CHO, DEN.
6. New Orleans Pelicans (10-7, T-6^th) (3-1 this week) ↑5 – Next Week: @PHI, @NYK, @WAS, BOS
7. Los Angeles Lakers (9-7, 8^th) (2-1 this week) ↑2 – Next week: @CLE, UTA, ORL, @DEN.
8. Denver Nuggets (10-7, T-6^th) (1-2 this week) ↓3 – Next Week: @MIN, ORL, @OKC, LAL.
9. Houston Rockets (8-7, 9^th) (2-0 this week) ↑2 – Next Week: DET, @DET, @CLE, @WAS
10. Dallas Mavericks (7-9, 13^th) (2-1 this week) ↑3 – Next Week: BKN, BOS.
11. Sacramento Kings (9-8, 10^th) (1-2 this week) ↓3 – Next week: @UTA, @GSW, UTA.
12. San Antonio (8-8, 11^th) (1-3 this week) ↓5 – Next Week: MEM, @IND, @MIL, @CHI.
13. Utah Jazz (8-9, 12^th) (1-3 this week) ↓3 – Next Week: SAC, @LAL, @SAC, IND.
14. Minnesota Timberwolves (7-10, 14^th) (2-1 this week) ↔ – Next week: DEN, @BKN, CHI, @CLE
15. Phoenix Suns (3-13, 15^th) (1-2 this week) ↔ – Next week: @CHI, @MIL, @DET, IND

Western Conference Heat Map:

A new feature this week that I will be including going forward.  The following heat map shows which teams excel in which statistical categories and where teams are under performing.  The darker the green the more they outperform (i.e. Warriors at 116 ppg) and the darker the red the worse they are (i.e. the Suns in almost every category).