Not everyone likes change.
With the NBA season entering its final stretch, the Dallas Mavericks sit in seventh place in the West at 29-24.
Normally, that would put them comfortably in the postseason, albeit with a tough first-round matchup (the Suns are currently the No. 2 seed). This year, however, things are different.
For the first time, the league is featuring a four-team play-in tournament for teams ranked 7-10 in the standings after the regular season. That change muddies Dallas’ postseason hopes, and they’re not happy about it with 19 games to play.
“In hindsight, this approach was an enormous mistake,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban told ESPN, apparently citing the “physical stress of compressed schedule on high-usage players.”
The format does show some respect to the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds, who would both have two chances to win one play-in game, while the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds would both need two wins in a row.
Still, the Mavs’ young superstar Luka Doncic is unimpressed with the idea.
Mark Cuban and Luka Doncic are not thrilled with the idea of an NBA play-in tournament. Getty Images“I don’t understand the idea of the play-in [tournament],” he said. “You play 72 games to get in the playoffs, then maybe you lose two in a row and you’re out of the playoffs. I don’t see the point of that.”
The NBA teased the play-in format during last season’s bubble, as the league gave the ninth-seeded Grizzlies a chance to steal the final playoff spot in the West from the Blazers, who won the spot on their first attempt.
If the standings remain unchanged, the Mavericks would host the Grizzlies in a play-in, before playing the Spurs or Warriors after a theoretical loss to Memphis.
There is still time to avoid the play-in, though. Dallas sits two games behind the sixth-seeded Blazers, and have the league’s easiest remaining strength of schedule, according to Tankathon.
