With Wednesday’s loss, the Mavericks (14-12) slipped to 2-8 this season against teams with a winning record. They now anticipate the schedule to continue to get harder, facing the Southwest Division rival Memphis Grizzlies at home on Friday. And despite sitting fifth in the Western Conference standings through 26 games, the Mavs acknowledge that they must be better against the NBA’s upper-echelon teams.
“You know, we’ve got to do everything better,” Mavs forward Chandler Parsons explained. “We’ve got to defend much better, we’ve got to play more aggressive, we’ve got to knock down open shots, and we can’t turn the ball over.