The Dallas Mavericks are in the Southwest division. Unlike other sports leagues in America, divisions in the NBA are almost pointless.
Three years ago, division leaders were automatically given a top-four seed, irrespective of their actual record.
In 2015, the Portland Trail Blazers were given the fourth seed for winning their division, even though they had a worse record than the fifth and sixth seeded Grizzlies and Spurs, respectively. (the Mavericks were seventh that year.)
Because of this seeding, the Spurs faced off against the Clippers in the first round in what some considered the most exciting match-up in the entire playoffs.