The defending NBA champions are not having the season they imagined as they sat down Dirk Nowitzki for four games to regain his stamina. This past week the Mavericks went 2-2 with wins against the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Hornets and their two loses coming by the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. Prior to that week the Mavericks were on a five-game winning streak.
The latest power rankings from SB Nation's Tom Ziller have the Mavericks just above the middle of the pack at No. 13:
13. Dallas Mavericks: The Mavericks remain completely weird. Benching the reigning Finals MVP to work out while locked in a battle for playoff seeds in which every game matters? OK.
Most other sites have the Mavericks ranked in the same area:
• CBS Sports has Mavericks ranked No. 12.
• ESPN has the Mavericks at No. 12.
• NBA.com has the Mavericks at No. 13, four spots down from last week.
• Pro Basketball Talk puts the Mavericks at No. 16.
• Fox Sports is high on the Mavericks with a No. 7 ranking.
For more on the Dallas Mavericks go visit Mavs Moneyball.