On Thursday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Brooklyn Nets in the fourth-to-last home game of the season. The Mavericks look to continue their momentum and finish the season strong. This is a very crucial game for the Mavericks in order to protect their control of the fifth seed in the western conference standings.

On Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Miami Heat in the seventh-to-last game of the season. The Mavericks started this game slow as the Heat were red-hot as it seemed like they couldn’t miss in the first quarter. The Mavericks were able to turn it around by taking a commanding 98-77 lead at the end of the third quarter. That’s all the Mavericks needed to leave the arena with a win as the Heat had no answer for the Mavericks in the second half, with the Mavericks claiming the 127-113 victory. Luka Doncic finished the game with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists but Tim Hardaway Jr stole the show as he scored 36 points, including tying the Mavericks’ franchise record of most three pointers made in a game by going 10-of-18 from behind the arc. With the win, the Mavericks record improved to 37-28 on the season, as they now jump back up to the fifth seed in the western conference standings. The Mavericks would need to (most likely) win out of the rest of their games, if they want to avoid playing in the “Play-in Tournament” because there’s simply no room for error, as it is a log jam between the fifth-through-seventh seed in the western conference standings. Only 0.5 games (before this matchup) separates three teams from the fifth-through-seventh seed as one loss between now and the end of the regular season could be the difference from a fifth seed and the seventh seed. The Mavericks would need to keep winning and hope that the other two teams lose traction and create some separation. The Mavericks, really and truly, control their own destiny as they simply need to take care of business and it will reward them with a top-six seed in the western conference standings. Luka Doncic has scored 4,969 career points. He’s on the verge of becoming the fastest active player to 5,000 career points in his 193rd game with this matchup, by just needing 31 points to reach the mark. Luka Doncic will become the 16th player in Mavericks franchise history to score 5,000 points, once he reaches the mark.

The Brooklyn Nets are coming into this game by going 5-5 in their last 10 games. They are recently coming off a 124-118 loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday to see their record drop to 43-23 on the season. The Nets are coming into this season with massive hopes of trying to make it to the NBA Finals. The Nets are currently second in the eastern conference. This team is led by Kevin Durant as they look to go on a long playoff run en route to the NBA Finals. If their current trend continues, they will go into the playoffs on a sour note.

Coming into this game, the Mavericks won their last meeting with the Nets 115-98 on February 27th, 2021. The Mavericks could clinch the season series with a win in this matchup. The Mavericks previously won their regular season series last season 1-0 against the Nets. Overall, the Mavericks hold the all-time series with a record of 46-32.

The Mavericks started this game by having Maxi Kleber (right Achilles soreness), Kristaps Porzingis (right knee soreness) and Tyrell Terry (personal reasons) be ruled out for this game. As a result, the Mavericks went with Doncic, Richardson, Hardaway Jr, Finney-Smith and Cauley-Stein as their starting five in this game. The first points in the game would belong to Joe Harris as he nailed a three pointer for the Nets to get this game underway. The Mavericks wouldn’t get their first points until the 11:14 mark as Josh Richardson drilled a three pointer to tie the game at 3-3. The Mavericks would grab their first lead in the game after Willie Cauley-Stein knocked down a layup to take a 5-3 lead with 10:36 left in the quarter. Both teams would come out shooting the lights out of the ball in hopes of some of those would fall down in the opening minutes of the game. The Mavericks would extend their lead to four points after Luka Doncic knocked down a “step-back” three pointer to extend their lead to 12-8 with 8:54 left in the quarter. Every Mavericks’ starter already knocked down a bucket after Tim Hardaway Kr knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 17-11 with 8:07 left in the quarter. The Mavericks offense was absolutely rolling as their offense was clicking on all cylinders. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 6:37 left in the quarter after the Mavericks were leading 21-14. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the game by making seven of their first ten attempts while the Nets made five of their first thirteen attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks offense looked energized and ready to go as they absolutely needed this type of start to open the game given how these Nets are built, you’re pretty much going to have to out-shoot them to even have a chance to win against the Nets. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Tim Hardaway Jr but couldn’t convert as he missed a three pointer that kept the score at 21-14 with 6:26 left in the quarter. Dirk Nowitzki, the “Tall Baller from the G” was at the American Airlines Center to watch the Dallas Mavericks play for the first time this season. In case we needed him to suit up for the game, I’m pretty sure his jersey is somewhere in the locker room. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead back to six points after Luka Doncic knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 26-20 with 4:39 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 37-32 lead into the second quarter. The game leading scorer after one quarter of play would belong to Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr as they both scored 10 points for their respective teams. These Mavericks looked refreshed as they were able to get their offense rolling by knocking down good quality shots. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks were shooting 53.8% on 14-of-26 shooting from the field. The Mavericks have to come out ready because Dirk Nowitzki was in the building and they want to show him that this franchise is in good hands. The Mavericks are 22-0 this season when leading after the first quarter this season.

The second quarter would begin by having Kevin Durant nail two free-throws for the Nets to get this quarter underway. The Mavericks wouldn’t get their first points in the quarter until the 10:03 mark as Trey Burke nailed two free-throws to extend their lead to 39-35. After a tremendous start by both teams in the first quarter, both teams would begin the second quarter cold as there appeared to be a lid on the rim with no shots falling down in the opening minutes of the quarter. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 7:18 left in the quarter after the Nets shrunk the Mavericks lead to 41-40 after Kyrie Irving knocked down a three pointer. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the quarter by making one of their first ten attempts while the Nets made two of their first ten attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks was completely quiet as they had a tough time knocking down shots while the Nets were struggling until the Kyrie Irving three pointer. There wasn’t that much offense in this quarter as both teams combined to make just three shots thus far. The Nets were able to generate a 8-4 to open the quarter to get themselves back in the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Luka Doncic as he was able to draw a foul to go to the free-throw line, where he would make one free-throw to extend their lead to 42-40 with 6:56 left in the quarter. The game would find its way to be tied after Kevin Durant knocked down a jump shot to tie the game at 42-42 with 6:38 left in the quarter. The Nets would grab their first lead in the quarter after Bruce Brown nailed a layup to take a 44-42 lead with 6:16 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to restore the lead after Luka Doncic knocked down a long three pointer to take a 50-49 lead with 5:02 left in the quarter. The game would find its way to be tied (again) after Kevin Durant knocked down two free-throws to tie the game at 53-53 with 4:15 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to take a 63-62 lead into halftime. The game leading scorer after two quarters of play would belong to Kyrie Irving as he scored 25 points for the Nets. The Mavericks were led by Luka Doncic as he scored 19 points. After a slow start by both teams, the offense would quickly pick up in the later stages of the quarter. At the end of the first half, the Mavericks were shooting 45.8% on 22-of-48 shooting from the field. The Mavericks just need to be consistent with their offense as they couldn’t afford to pick and choose when they want to go on a scoring run because the Nets would leave you in the dust in a hurry. Luka Doncic just needs 12 more points to reach 5,000 for his career.

Coming out of the half, the Nets were able to get on the board first in the third quarter by having Kyrie Irving nail a three pointer to take a 65-63 lead. The quarter would begin by both teams struggling massively as neither team could get a shot to fall down until Joe Harris knocked down a three pointer to extend the Nets lead to 68-63 with 8:15 left in the quarter. The Mavericks are still looking for their first points in the quarter and they finally got it as Josh Richardson was able to score the first points in the quarter for the Mavericks by nailing a three pointer with 7:21 left in the quarter to come within 68-66 of the Nets. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 6:52 left in the quarter with the Mavericks trailing 70-66. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the quarter by making just one of their first eleven attempts while the Nets made three of their first eleven attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks offense was absolutely quiet as they were massively struggling to get any shots to fall down, fortunately the Nets couldn’t capitalize on it with them struggling to get shots to go down too. The Mavericks desperately needed to snap out of this funk to get themselves back in the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Dorian Finney-Smith as he was able to convert on a three pointer to come within 70-69 of the Nets with 6:39 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to get the lead right back after Dwight Powell knocked down two free-throws to take a 71-70 lead with 6:07 left in the quarter. The Nets would find themselves in some foul trouble as their star, Kevin Durant picked up his fourth personal foul in the game. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to four points after Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down a floating jump shot to extend their lead to 76-72 that forced the Nets to call a timeout with 4:26 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks offense was able to shake off the rusty start in the opening minutes by get some shots to go down. The Mavericks were able to generate a 10-2 run to grab control of the lead and the game thus far. The Nets missed a huge chance to capitalize on the Mavericks cold start in the quarter as they couldn’t get their shots to go down in the key point in the game. The Mavericks were very lucky to have the lead as they were able to play just enough defense to allow their offense to shrug off the cold start in the opening minutes of the quarter. Coming out of the timeout, the Nets turned to Jeff Green as he was able to convert on a jump shot to come within 76-74 of the Mavericks with 4:14 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Nets were able to take control of the game and take a 83-82 lead into the fourth quarter. The game leading scorer after three quarters of play would belong to Kyrie Irving as he scored 30 points for the Nets. The Mavericks were led by Luka Doncic as he scored 20 points. This quarter featured cold starts by both teams but the Mavericks were able to escape out of it by getting some good quality shots to go down in the late minutes of the quarter. Through three quarters of play, the Mavericks were shooting 40.6% on 28-of-69 shooting from the field. It all comes down to these final 12:00 minutes of the game to determine the winner of this matchup. The Mavericks need to play good basketball on both ends of the court if they want to remain the fifth seed in the western conference standings.

The fourth quarter would begin by having Joe Harris nail a layup while being fouled and was able to knock down the “AND-ONE” free-throw for the Nets to get this quarter underway. The Mavericks weren’t able to get their first points in the quarter until the 110:6 mark by having Josh Green nail a layup to come within 86-84 of the Nets. The Nets were able to extend their lead to four points after Kevin Durant knocked down two free-throws to take a 90-86 lead with 9:51 left in the game. The game would find its way to be tied after Dorian Finney-Smith knocked down a “put back” basket to tie the game at 90-90 that forced the Nets to call a timeout with 9:19 left in the game. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the quarter by making four of their first five attempts while the Nets made two of their first four attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks need their offense to come alive for the reminder of the game if they want to leave the arena with a HUGE win. The Mavericks were able to generate a 6-2 run to get this game tied. The Mavericks desperately needed to play outstanding defense to prevent the Nets from taking over the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Nets turned to Kyrie Irving but couldn’t convert as he missed a three pointer that kept the score at tied at 90-90 with 9:09 left in the game. The Mavericks were able to take the lead after Jalen Brunson knocked down a jump shot to take a 92-90 lead with 8:41 left in the game. The game would find its way to be tied (again) after Kyrie Irving knocked down a jump shot to tie the game at 92-92 with 8:07 left in the game. The Mavericks were able to restore the lead after Dwight Powell knocked down a layup to take a 94-92 lead with 7:32 left in the game. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to four points after Dwight Powell knocked down a “bank” shot to extend their lead to 96-92 with 6:34 left in the game. The Mavericks offense started to click as Dorian Finney-Smith knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 99-92 with 5:57 left in the game. The Nets couldn’t get anything to go down on their offense as they ball wasn’t falling down thus far allowing the Mavericks to go on a massive and crucial scoring run in the late minutes of the game. This game looked like it was going to down in the final minute of the game to determine the winner of this matchup. The Nets were able to trim their deficit to four points after Kyrie Irving knocked down a three pointer to come within 101-97 of the Mavericks with 4:43 left in the game. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead back to seven points after Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 104-97 with 4:28 left in the game. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 3:36 left in the game after the Nets trimmed the Mavericks lead down to 104-99. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were just holding on as they were hoping the Nets didn’t have much left in them to generate a comeback. The Nets were able to generate a quick 5-3 run to try to generate a comeback and erase the Mavericks lead. The Mavericks would need to come up with some huge stops for the reminder of the game if they wanted to leave the arena with a HUGE win. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Luka Doncic as he was able to convert on a driving layup to extend their lead to 106-99 with 3:11 left in the game. The Nets were able to trim their deficit to 0 points after Kyrie Irving knocked down a layup while being fouled, in which he knocked down the “AND-ONE” free-throw to come within 106-102 of the Mavericks with 1:15 left in the game. The Mavericks were playing outstanding defense up to this point by getting some huge stops from preventing the Nets from gaining control of the game. THE MAVERICKS WERE ABLE TO EXTEND THEIR LEAD TO SIX POINTS AFTER LUKA DONCIC KNOCKED DOWN A FADEAWAY JUMP SHOT TO EXTEND THEIR LEAD TO 108-102 WITH 53.8 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME. The Nets were able to trim their deficit back to four points after Kyrie Irving knocked down two free-throws to come within 108-104 of the Mavericks with 47.7 seconds left in the game. The Mavericks quickly extended their lead back to six points after Jalen Brunson knocked down a driving layup to extend their lead to 110-104 that forced the Nets to call a timeout with 32.6 seconds left in the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Nets turned to Kyrie Irving but couldn’t convert as he air-balled a layup by trying to draw a foul, that kept the score at 110-104 with 23.2 seconds left in the game. The Mavericks were now in good shape of leaving the arena with a HUGE win after that miss.

This team looked like they were ready and refreshed as their offense was clicking on all cylinders by getting some good quality shots to fall down. The Mavericks offense would go quiet in the opening minutes in the second quarter which allowed the Nets to get themselves back in the game, but the offense would pick right up for the Mavericks in time for a 63-62 halftime lead. This is a extremely important game for the Mavericks as a loss here would drop them back to the seventh seed in the western conference standings, while a win would keep them at the fifth seed.

In the end, it was the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Brooklyn Nets 113-109 to clinch the season series sweep. The Mavericks record would improve to 38-28 on the season. Luka Doncic finished the game with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in the HUGE WIN. The Nets were led by Kyrie Irving as he finished with 45 points and 5 rebounds. The Mavericks got production from Tim Hardaway Jr as he finished with 23 points. This was a HUGE WIN as they get to remain the fifth seed in the western conference standings as a result. The Mavericks have now opened the month of May by going 3-1 thus far. The Mavericks are doing exactly what they needed to do, which is winning games, as that’s the way to maintain control of the fifth seed in the western conference standings. THE DALLAS MAVERICKS ARE 10 GAMES ABOVE .500 FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON. With Dirk Nowitzki watching, the Mavericks were able to generate a HUGE WIN in front of him.

The Mavericks will continue to stay at home as they will welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers to the American Airlines Center on Friday in yet another back-to-back. The Mavericks have only one back-to-back left on the season.