The Dallas Mavericks\u2019 hellscape 2025 is now over. A fresh calendar and fresh opportunities lay on the horizon for this team, as they try to remove any and all hauntings of a truly insane self-sabotage.<\/p>\n
Now, the calendar move to January doesn\u2019t mean the problems disappear. This week\u2019s Power Rankings Watch really drives home that this team is inconsistent, unhealthy, and in desperate need of moving past the remnants of Nico Harrison\u2019s vision. As rumors continue to swirl about the trade landscape for Anthony Davis the team continues collecting losses, and perhaps a better position in this summer\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n
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Rank: 24Last week: 21<\/p>\n
As the Mavs explore the trade market for\u00a0Anthony Davis<\/a>, the other player received as part of the return package in the widely criticized\u00a0Luka Doncic<\/a>\u00a0trade is providing reason for optimism that he can be part of the franchise\u2019s core into the future.\u00a0Max Christie<\/a>, 22, is shooting a career-best 46.6% from 3-point range as a part-time starter. According to NBA Advanced Stats, Christie has an effective field goal percentage of 76.2% on catch-and-shoot opportunities, the best in the league among the 61 players with at least 120 attempts.\u00a0\u2014 MacMahon<\/p>\n Rank: 26Last week: 19<\/p>\n Davis has yet to play in more than five straight games and, with their loss in Sacramento on Saturday, the Mavs are 4-13 without him. Eleven of those 13 losses have been within five points in the last five minutes (they continue to\u00a0lead the league<\/a>\u00a0in clutch games), but they\u2019ve scored just 106.3 points per 100 possessions over those 17 games overall. Saturday was just\u00a0the fourth time<\/a>\u00a0that the Kings have allowed less than 105 per 100.<\/p>\n The one-point win over the Nuggets (with Davis) was the Mavs\u2019\u00a0best offensive game<\/a>\u00a0of the season (131 points on 98 possessions). Cooper Flagg led the way with 33 points and nine assists, making as many 3-pointers (four) as he had made over his previous 10 games combined. That included\u00a0a late-clock 3-pointer<\/a>\u00a0that put Dallas up five with a little more than three minutes left. Flagg\u2019s 68 clutch points are\u00a0more than twice as many<\/a>\u00a0as any other rookie and\u00a030 more<\/a>\u00a0than any rookie had all of last season.<\/p>\n The Mavs had just four 3-pointers\u00a0as a team\u00a0in their 10-point loss to the Warriors, when they were outscored by 30 points from beyond the arc. They now have\u00a0four games<\/a>\u00a0of making five or fewer 3s, while the rest of the league has just\u00a0eight<\/a>. The Mavs and Pelicans are the two teams that rank in the bottom five in both\u00a03-point percentage<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a03-point rate<\/a>.<\/p>\n