The Memphis Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks have been neck-and-neck in the Western Conference NBA Playoff race thus far in 2021. While the Mavericks have underperformed, the Grizzlies have been punching above their weight class, currently sitting in the 8th seed with a 27-25 record.
On Tuesday, the Grizzlies would get a home win against the Chicago Bulls, pulling a bit closer to the Mavericks, who recently hit a 2-game mid-season skid.
Right now, these two teams are in competition for home-court advantage in the play-in tournament. While both squads are within reach of a locked-in playoff spot, it’s much more likely that they’ll be facing off in the 7-8 game of the play-in tournament.
The Memphis Grizzlies are threatening the Mavs’ home-court advantage
Earlier in the season, the Mavericks were relatively quiet about the play-in tournament. As an underperforming team that sat around a 9 or 10 seed, they only stood to gain from the unique 2021 NBA Playoff format.
But now, they’ve moved up, playing at a more normal level of basketball for a team that was expected to be a contender in the West. After a strong middle-stretch of the season, the Mavs find themselves as a 7 seed with the Grizzlies breathing down their neck.
This has clearly made them uncomfortable, with multiple comments to the media from members of the Dallas Mavericks. Most notably, Luka Doncic and Mark Cuban had choice words about this year’s play-in tournament format. Here’s what they had to say.
The Memphis Grizzlies are breathing down the Mavericks’ necks
It’s no coincidence that the Mavericks are becoming increasingly concerned about the play-in tournament as Memphis begins to hit its stride near the end of the season. That doesn’t even take into account the fact that they’ve gotten within striking distance of Dallas without their second-best player in Jaren Jackson Jr., who will be returning within the next couple of weeks.
The first member of the Dallas Mavericks who was critical of the play-in format was Luka Doncic after the Mavs’ second loss in a row. Here’s what he said:
"“I don’t understand the idea of a play-in,” he said after their second consecutive loss, “You play 72 games to get into the playoffs, then maybe you lose two in a row and you’re out of the playoffs. So I don’t see the point of that.”"
Clearly, the Memphis Grizzlies are a threat to them, otherwise, their star player wouldn’t be complaining about this format. If he believed they could win, there would be no complaints about a play-in tournament that could eventually save their chances later in the year.
That’s not to say that they shouldn’t feel threatened either — the Grizzlies are hitting NBA Playoff form with Ja Morant in a slump, Justise Winslow out with injury, and Jaren Jackson Jr. still sidelined. If there is a team that could threaten the Mavericks in the play-in tournament, it’s Memphis.
But Doncic wasn’t the only one who had comments about the play-in tournament.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had negative words about the tournament
In Mark Cuban’s defense, he has been trashing the play-in tournament for a little bit longer. That said, he chose a 2-game losing streak that saw the Grizzlies come within striking distance to be the time that he’d complain about the tournament again.
Granted, Cuban’s comment was in response to a question about Luka’s comments, but it still seems like he feels extremely threatened by the team on Beale Street. Here’s what he said:
"“Rather than playing for a playoff spot and being able to rest players as the standings become clearer, teams have to approach every game as a playoff game to either get into or stay in the top 6 since the consequences, as Luka said, are enormous. So players are playing more games and more minutes in fewer days…” Cuban said about the 2021 play-in tournament format. “In hindsight, this approach was an enormous mistake,”"
The issue with Cuban’s comments is that he mentions the importance of resting high-usage players. In all likelihood, he is referencing Luka Doncic, who ranks first in the NBA in Usage Rate at 43.4. This argument helps him, but nobody is forcing him to run half of his plays through his point guard.
With all due respect to Cuban and the Mavericks, their criticisms of the play-in tournament seem to be coming at a time that is convenient to them. While the new system may be flawed, they weren’t so outspoken when they had nothing to lose as a 10th-seeded team in the West.
The Memphis Grizzlies will continue to grind, and as long as the Mavericks are paranoid about who could knock them out, the Grizz will have a good chance at making this year’s NBA Playoffs.