SALT LAKE CITY: With a ton of momentum, the Mavericks take on the Utah Jazz on Monday in the first leg of their crucial road trip of the season.
The Mavericks are not at all where they were twenty days ago.
They were defeated by Indiana at the American Airlines Center on March 5. Their season was about to turn the corner after their fifth defeat in six games. Either way, things may have worked out.
At that point, a surprising hero appeared.
In one of the many team meetings held during that dry stretch, Markieff Morris—who, by his own admission, has played on championship teams, decent teams, so-so teams, and “bottom-of-the-barrel teams, I’ve been on them all”—stepped up.
It was true what he said. and quite powerful.
The 13-year veteran added, “There are ups and downs in the NBA season.” “The squad that can weather those ups and downs, understanding that’s what a season is all about, is the one that succeeds.” All I could do was share my knowledge and try to hold us together.
“We didn’t want to conclude the year last year. And the period we went through was a perfect illustration of how, if we keep going in that direction, we’ll end up exactly where we were last year.
The Mavericks were thus given a taste of reality. They realized that a good squad can become a great team by playing well on both ends, sharing the ball, and contributing to the defense.
With seven victories in their previous eight games, the Mavericks may be headed in that direction. Their lone defeat came against Oklahoma City, who were missing Luka Dončić and currently hold the top spot in the Western Conference, on Sunday.
They now face five away games, four of which are against clubs that are in the closely packed West standings from five to eleven.
Morris has a major role in the Mavericks’ current mental health. He’s a shining example of the NBA adage that a leader lacks