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The Dallas Mavericks approached .500 with a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday but followed up that effort with back-to-back losses against the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies to drop to 12-15 on the season, good enough for 12th place in the Western Conference.
Playing without Dirk Nowitzki for this early stretch of the season, the Mavericks have kept their head above water, never straying too far from that .500 mark. But with five losses in their last six games, capped off by a 92-82 loss to the Memphis on Friday night, Dallas fell to a season worst record.
Looking ahead, the Mavericks schedule does not get any easier before Jan. 1. They travel to San Antonio on Sunday to face the Spurs before another road matchup with the Western Conference best Oklahoma City Thunder next Thursday. The Mavericks will then face the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs again the following week to close out 2012.
At 21-5, the Thunder top the conference standings, followed closely by the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs. The Denver Nuggets would hold the 8 seed if the postseason started today, with the Mavericks two games out of the playoff picture.
The complete Western Conference standings are below.
Western Conference
| W | L | Pct | GB | Conf | Div | Home | Road | Streak | ||
 Thunder |
21 | 5 | .808 | 0.0 | 11-3 | 2-1 | 14-2 | 7-3 | Lost 1 | |
 Clippers |
20 | 6 | .769 | 1.0 | 12-3 | 4-1 | 12-3 | 8-3 | Won 12 | |
 Grizzlies |
18 | 6 | .750 | 2.0 | 9-5 | 3-1 | 12-2 | 6-4 | Won 4 | |
 Spurs |
20 | 8 | .714 | 2.0 | 11-6 | 5-0 | 9-2 | 11-6 | Won 1 | |
 Warriors |
18 | 9 | .667 | 3.5 | 7-7 | 2-3 | 8-3 | 10-6 | Won 1 | |
 Timberwolves |
13 | 11 | .542 | 7.0 | 7-5 | 2-2 | 8-3 | 5-8 | Won 1 | |
 Rockets |
13 | 12 | .520 | 7.5 | 3-10 | 1-4 | 10-5 | 3-7 | Won 2 | |
 Nuggets |
14 | 13 | .519 | 7.5 | 10-7 | 2-3 | 7-1 | 7-12 | Lost 1 | |
 Jazz |
14 | 13 | .519 | 7.5 | 9-10 | 1-2 | 9-2 | 5-11 | Lost 1 | |
 Trail Blazers |
12 | 12 | .500 | 8.0 | 8-6 | 2-1 | 8-4 | 4-8 | Won 4 | |
 Lakers |
12 | 14 | .462 | 9.0 | 7-10 | 3-2 | 8-6 | 4-8 | Won 3 | |
 Mavericks |
12 | 15 | .444 | 9.5 | 5-7 | 1-1 | 8-4 | 4-11 | Lost 2 | |
 Suns |
11 | 15 | .423 | 10.0 | 6-6 | 1-3 | 9-5 | 2-10 | Won 4 | |
 Kings |
8 | 18 | .308 | 13.0 | 5-12 | 3-4 | 7-7 | 1-11 | Lost 1 | |
 Hornets |
5 | 21 | .192 | 16.0 | 2-15 | 0-4 | 3-10 | 2-11 | Lost 10 | |