Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Mavericks were pegged by most analysts to continue climbing this season. Luka Doncic was the favorite to win MVP coming into the year. The Mavs had the sixth-best point differential in the NBA last season leading some to predict Dallas to finish top three in the Western Conference.
Nobody was expecting what happened in the early going. The Mavericks had just eight wins after 21 games. The poor start culminated in a six-game losing streak that pushed Dallas to 14th in the West.