Will Mark Cuban and Mavs help eliminate Houston tonight...with a loss?

[Bill Dozer]

Oddsmakers seem to think so making Dallas 7 point dogs.

A Utah Jazz win eliminates the Rockets no matter what the Rockets do against the Timberwolves tonight. So do the Mavs stick it to Houston and rest starters in last game?

The big question is what can the Mavs win mean for them? They would be tied with Memphis for for 6th place. 6th gets OKC in first round instead of Spurs.

Who has the tiebreaker between Mavs and Grizz??

12:46 EDIT: Added "Help" to my title. Apparently Rockets do have the tiebreaker vs the Jazz so best the Mavs could do is help eliminate Houston. Utah needs to lose one game for Houston to get in.....this is confusing.

[Grivas_Digeni]

On another note, does Cuban hate the Rockets or the Clippers more? Is it even close?

[jjgold]

Mavs will win

Better coached

[TxAaron]

Mavs haven't even clinched a playoff spot...

[TxAaron]

Houston has the tiebreaker over Dallas. Utah has the tie breaker over Houston

If the Rockets are to make the playoffs, they need the following:
-- Houston goes 2-0 to finish at 41-41 AND Utah loses once or Dallas loses twice.
-- Houston goes 1-1 to finish at 40-42 AND Utah loses twice.

[PorkChop]

Have to think Houston take this by 4 plus every which way possible.

If there's a team with zero heart it's Houston, but for Christ Sake, vs Minnesota in a must win.

McHale should still be coaching

[Bill Dozer]

OK this game would be a lot more fun if there wasnt another to go. Texas teams are in a tangled web.

Yahoo Sports:

Dallas, meanwhile, is playing for its playoff lives. And yet when spotted a 6-23 night from the free throw line from DeAndre Jordan – a former unofficial Dallas signee, no less – the Mavs still failed to turn the corner. The Mavs were even afforded the luxury of an early local start for the home team – one that plays in Los Angeles no less – and 21 bench points from the up and down (and sometimes nightlife chummy) Raymond Felton.

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Weirdly, the Mavs could even finish 5th in the West by winning out. (Getty Images)

This means the Mavericks have yet to clinch a playoff berth, and they’re two games up on ninth-place Houston with two games left to play. If Dallas loses to a tough Utah squad in Salt Lake City on Monday, a very real possibility (Utah is eighth in the West and fighting for its own place in the postseason), the team’s season might come down to a needed win over the potentially resting San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Houston and Dallas split the season series and could finish with identical in-conference records, which means a Dallas win over fellow Southwest Division partner San Antonio could swing the final tie-breaker.

[IBetYou]

So to be clear... the Rockets are fighting for their playoff lives, and the Mavs are fighting for their playoff lives, and mark cuban has fk all to do with it!

[IBetYou]

Jazz have been the better team all season long. They should win this. I tentatively expect them to smash it.

[Seto]

Jazz have been the better team all season long. They should win this. I tentatively expect them to smash it.

How so?

[lakerboy]

Either way none of these teams are going anywhere.

[IBetYou]

How so?

All the way around. Much better on the wing spots. Better at centre. Better at pf -Favors has overtaken Nowitzki. As a team they defend better, run better. They're better

[Seto]

Either way none of these teams are going anywhere.

Yeah the 2nd round of the playoffs in the West is set. You could argue the conference finals are set too but at least the 2nd round has a bit more intrigue to it.

[Seto]

All the way around. Much better on the wing spots. Better at centre. Better at pf -Favors has overtaken Nowitzki. As a team they defend better, run better. They're better

Why don't they have a better record then? The way you're making it sound they should be 10 games above Dallas.

Neither team is anything special. The Jazz have some nice pieces that could develop in the coming years but right here right now they are right where they should be, a .500 team.

[KRIT]

Lets be honest, Cuban, Carlisle and Dirk all know that it won't matter if they face OKC or SA. They're losing either way in 4-5 games. Maybe they should just settle for the 7 seed that way they can save time on travel.

[Seto]

Lets be honest, Cuban, Carlisle and Dirk all know that it won't matter if they face OKC or SA. They're losing either way in 4-5 games. Maybe they should just settle for the 7 seed that way they can save time on travel.

Doubt they're thinking that way. These guys are competitors. Of course deep inside they know it. I'd say they have a better chance of winning a game against OKC though, but then again I wanted to avoid the Spurs at all costs in 2014 and they took them to game 7 so what the fuk do I know.

If we take this another level though, there is actually a somewhat legitimate reason to want to play OKC. Let's say Durant tears his ACL in game 1. All of a sudden you have a bit of a chance. Nobody on the Spurs going down would have a sufficient effect to give them a chance.

[IBetYou]

Why don't they have a better record?? Chandler Parsons for one. The teams would be closer to even if he were healthy.

[Seto]

Why don't they have a better record?? Chandler Parsons for one. The teams would be closer to even if he were healthy.

Fair enough, I do agree with you that he makes the team quite a bit better and certainly would in a playoff scenario. But their record in the couple of months when he was playing at a high level is actually pretty similar to their record when he was playing like shit or wasn't playing. Both teams are pretty much right where they should be in my opinion.

[PorkChop]

Lets be honest, Cuban, Carlisle and Dirk all know that it won't matter if they face OKC or SA. They're losing either way in 4-5 games. Maybe they should just settle for the 7 seed that way they can save time on travel.

Only team who gave San Antonio 7 games two years ago. Was suppose to be a first round sweep.

[KRIT]

I forgot that they took SA to 7 two years ago. But that was a different team, so pretty irrelevant. Either way their aren't going to be any upsets in the first round. I'd expect most the series to be quick, Portland can probably steal a couple games but I don't see them beating the Clipps in a series.

Do Mavs plan on playing everyone tonight?

[Bill Dozer]

Lets be honest, Cuban, Carlisle and Dirk all know that it won't matter if they face OKC or SA. They're losing either way in 4-5 games. Maybe they should just settle for the 7 seed that way they can save time on travel.

The Mavs would love to avoid getting knocked out by the Spurs... again.

[lakerboy]

Why don't they have a better record then? The way you're making it sound they should be 10 games above Dallas.

Neither team is anything special. The Jazz have some nice pieces that could develop in the coming years but right here right now they are right where they should be, a .500 team.

Carlisle is a great coach. Utah is a better team.

[IBetYou]

2 years on I'm still not sure what to make of that Spurs/ Mavs series -everything pointed to a sweep. Spurs were supposed to be a nightmare matchup for the Mavs. It was a team sort of on the rise vs a team on the decline. I think ultimately, the Spurs sleepwalked through the early part of that series (as opposed to the Mavs being better than advertised).

[Seto]

2 years on I'm still not sure what to make of that Spurs/ Mavs series -everything pointed to a sweep. Spurs were supposed to be a nightmare matchup for the Mavs. It was a team sort of on the rise vs a team on the decline. I think ultimately, the Spurs sleepwalked through the early part of that series (as opposed to the Mavs being better than advertised).

I'm a Mavs fan and I fully expected a sweep. They were a couple plays away from going up 3-1, Boris fukking Diaw hit the game winning 3 in game 4. As to why the Spurs struggled so much, I'm not so sure. I haven't watched those games in ages. The consensus was Carlisle out-coached Pop, at least early on in the series.

[Seto]

I forgot that they took SA to 7 two years ago. But that was a different team, so pretty irrelevant. Either way their aren't going to be any upsets in the first round. I'd expect most the series to be quick, Portland can probably steal a couple games but I don't see them beating the Clipps in a series.

Do Mavs plan on playing everyone tonight?

Everyone who is healthy will be playing yeah. I think JJ Barea (who has been their best player of late) is a game-time call.

[IBetYou]

I'm a Mavs fan and I fully expected a sweep. They were a couple plays away from going up 3-1, Boris fukking Diaw hit the game winning 3 in game 4. As to why the Spurs struggled so much, I'm not so sure. I haven't watched those games in ages. The consensus was Carlisle out-coached Pop, at least early on in the series.

I remember a few things from that series... Carter hit that corner three, D.Blair was a beast inside vs his former team, and D.Harris did his thing -always a Spurs killer.

[IBetYou]

Favors is questionable for the Jazz.

[Seto]

I remember a few things from that series... Carter hit that corner three, D.Blair was a beast inside vs his former team, and D.Harris did his thing -always a Spurs killer.

I remember the game to game flow pretty well, just not really what aspect of the game the Spurs struggled with. Blair was great yeah, he's now like the 7th big for the Wizards. Why I'm not exactly sure.

[lakerboy]

Carlisle outcoached pops. Nothing new there. Pops got outcoached by spoelstra in the first finals as well. He even got outcoached by dantoni lol.

[KRIT]

I like Jazz but not sure I can lay 7 with them. Was hoping for something like -5.5.

[lakerboy]

B2b in utah is tough.

[IBetYou]

B2b in utah is tough.

They're both on a b2b, and both in Utah, so it's tough for both

[lakerboy]

They're both on a b2b, and both in Utah, so it's tough for both

No cause jazz are younger and used to playing at home hence the line.

[jjgold]

Cuban one of worst owners in NBA

Houston a terrible place to live and play

Pick your posion

[Luckycharms2012]

Mavs +7 easy decision, too many points. Dirk still the best player on the court.