At 19-14 and the eighth spot in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks aren’t doing too bad, all things considered. Still after blowing a lead on Friday night and the loss to the Clippers making it their third loss in a row, Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki said his team isn’t a playoff team.
From Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas:
“It’s a game we can’t lose,” Nowitzki said. “Can’t afford to lose that one.”
Nowitzki has had similar takes after a few other losses this season. The Mavs have blown leads of 17 to the Atlanta Hawks, 18 to the Golden State Warriors and 19 to the Toronto Raptors in losses. With the exception of the Atlanta loss, all of those happened at the American Airlines Center. …
“The way we let those games slip away, I don’t think we’re a playoff team,” Nowitzki said. “We’ve got to win those games. We’ve got to find a way to get those stops and protect the home court.”
The Mavericks still have time to fix the kinks and are still in the playoff picture but Nowitzki is right, if they keep letting games like that slip away they can kiss those aspirations goodbye.
