After what's been arguably the most brutal season in Dallas Mavericks history, the Mavs still have the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, with aspirations of getting Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II back before the end of the regular season to potentially fight for a spot in the Play-In Tournament.
However, with the Phoenix Suns breathing down the Mavs' neck, it might only be a matter of time until Phoenix surpasses Dallas in the standings. After all, the Suns still have their stars with more guys available to compete. The only good news is that Phoenix's remaining schedule is no cake walk at all, which would be a frustrating for the Mavs to miss a legit opportunity at competing for a playoff spot.
The injury woes have gotten even worse for Dallas, as Dante Exum suffered a broken bone in his left hand which will likely leave him sidelined for the remainder of the season. This injury may have been the final straw for the Mavericks, as they might be forced into the most unthinkable option yet.
Mavs' injury curse could force team to forfeit games
As something that might occur just once in a generation, the Mavericks might be forced to forfeit games with guys going down left and right. The first issue was missing their bigs, now, with season-ending injuries to Kyrie Irving, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Dante Exum, the Mavs' biggest issue is just getting guys to suit up.
As NBA writer Bobby Marks reports, the Mavs could soon forfeit games with injuries and the salary cap haunting them. To start a game, a team must start with eight active players. With Kessler Edwards having three games of eligbility remaining, and Brandon Williams having six games of eligibilty remaining, the cards aren't in the Mavs' favor.
The interesting thing about all of this is that Max Christie shut down any talks of the Mavs tanking their season away. Since the injury woes started, Mavs fans have appreciated the hustle and heart of the guys on the court, as playing with only three guys to substitute in a 48 minute game isn't ideal to anyone's stamina at all.
At this point, there's no way to stop this injury bug. Anyone in the NBA knows it can hit you on any given night, it just appears the basketball gods are only making the Mavericks pay. This truly has never been seen in NBA history before, and even if the Mavericks make it to the play-in, the question on having enough guys to compete is a legitimate concern.
With the offseason coming up, and with talks about a potential Kevin Durant sighting are being shut down for now, the future for this team looks really unclear for the next few months.
