DALLAS — Since flying high following four consecutive wins to close the 2015 portion of the regular-season schedule, the Dallas Mavericks haven’t been able to sustain that level of play in the first two games of the new year.
Sprinting to wins over Brooklyn, Chicago, Milwaukee and the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the Mavericks (19-15) appeared to be making a midseason surge up the Western Conference standings. The Mavs averaged 113.5 points per outing during that victorious four-game stretch, winning by an average of 7.8 points a contest. However, after falling to a 106-82 lopsided loss on New Year’s Day in Miami, the Mavericks couldn’t right the ship one night later at home against the Southwest Division rival New Orleans Pelicans.