Mavs hopes to recover quickly

SAN ANTONIO — The Dallas Mavericks are using this upcoming three-game trip as a first step towards getting back on good foot.

The Mavs have lost nine of their last 12 games in a 7:30 p.m. contest on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center. The losing trend is not the path the Mavs want to take with just over a month left until the playoffs.

Overall, the Mavs are in ninth place in the Western Conference standings and share a 34-35 record with the No. 8 Oklahoma City Thunder and No. 10 Los Angeles Lakers. And the No. 11 Utah Jazz and No. 12 New Orleans Pelicans are just one game behind the Mavs, with identical records of 33-36.

The seven-10 seeded will qualify for the NBA play-in tournament. But it’s clear that the Mavs are more likely to climb into one of those coveted automatic playoff spots reserved for the conference’s top six seed. And three of those places are definitely within reach of the Mavs as they are just three games behind the 4th seed Phoenix Suns (37-32) and just two games behind the 5th seed Golden State Warriors. (36-33) and the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 6th number (36-33).

The Mavs have only 13 games left in the regular season, so they already know time is being wasted. After the Spurs game, the remainder of that journey, including Friday’s game against the Lakers and Monday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies before the Mavs return home to face the defending NBA champion Warriors on March 22.

And just because the Mavs are up against a Spurs team that has the third-worst record in the entire NBA (18-50), they know it means absolutely nothing. Especially since the last time the Mavs were in San Antonio on Dec. 31, they needed a whopping 51 points, six rebounds and nine assists from Luka Doncic only to run away with a dramatic 126 victory over the Spurs. -125.

In that game, Doncic was fouled with 1.5 seconds left and went to the free throw line to take a couple of shots. But after Doncic missed the first free throw because the Spurs had no time-outs, he intentionally missed the second free throw, thus depriving the Spurs of the opportunity to start a desperate game.

However, on Wednesday, for the third game in a row, the Mavs will be without the services of Doncic, who is recovering from a sprained left hip. In addition, Kyrie Irving (right foot soreness), Christian Wood (right foot soreness), and Tim Hardaway Jr. (left calf bruise) are listed as questionable against the Spurs.

Regardless of which players are healthy enough to play against the Spurs, the Mavs are using this three-game trip as the first step to getting back on their feet.

* Rookie Jayden Hardy scored a game-high 28 points in 41 minutes in Monday’s 104-88 loss to Memphis, one game after he scored 22 points in last Saturday’s 112-108 loss in Memphis.

* Former Baylor star Jeremy Sochan posted game-highs of 29 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday to lead the Spurs to a 132-114 home win over the Orlando Magic. Also for the Spurs, Zach Collins was 10-of-14 from the field and finished with 25 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in 28 minutes. Due to multiple surgeries, Collins only played 21 games in the previous three seasons.

* Josh Green scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting during Monday’s game against the Grizzlies after scoring 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting in last Saturday’s 112-108 loss in Memphis.

* The Spurs scored 22 of 41 points from a 3-pointer against Orlando. This is the most three-pointers ever made by the Spurs in a game. Previous team record there were 18 trips they hit during a November 26 game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

* The Mavs will play eight of their last 13 away games. But their last regular season game will be on April 9 at home against the Spurs.

*Incredibly, the Spurs had a season-high 39 assists on 48 field goals they converted against the Magic. With the calendar flipped to 2023, the Spurs are just 6-27. Nevertheless, in the last seven games they behave solidly with a score of 4:3.

DALLAS MAVERICS (34-35) – SAN ANTONIO SPURS (18-50)

Time: 19:30 Wednesday

Place: AT&T Center, San Antonio

TV: Bally Sports Southwest

Radio: 97.1 FM Freak; 99.1 FM Zone MX (Spanish)

Twitter: @DwainPrice