To knee-jerkers from the one-time king of knee-jerkers...

[Scott41theMavs]

...please, if the Mavs are 2-3 by late Friday night, please don't wail and moan. Any win against one of those three playoff teams would be huge. The team is still gelling. Trust the process. And no, not that process. 

Speaking of which, where's VP?

[Lennon]

My odds for the next 3:

Blazers 50-50
Nuggets 20-80
Lakers 50-50

[Hypermav]

We don't knee jerk around here!  

[fifteenth]

I think it's best to judge an NBA season by groups of games. If you try to draw conclusions one game at a time you'll go crazy. I don't know how the game thread folks keep their sanity by drawing conclusions one play at a time!

It's best to take 5 or 8 games at a time. Look for trends. If you want to make the playoffs you need to go around 3 of 5, or 5 of 8 all season long. If you play 3 top WC teams in a row you may have to make hay to gain some ground back after those games. Winning one of the next three would be outstanding.

[Lucky Luciano]

I think we can win all 3 upcoming games. But I will be super happy if we win 2 of 3.

I think we match up well with Denver to beat them. I think Portland is overrated (Definitely a good team just not what most feel about them)

Lakers I'd love to beat more than the other 2 combined but I think we may have a tough time with them unless KP can really slow down AD.

AD has been shooting 30% from the floor the first 2 games and still putting up good numbers and making teams work hard with match ups.

So I hope we go 2 and 1 at least.

[SleepingHero]

The next 3 games are the real litmus test for the Mavs playoff chances imo.

We were supposed to win the first 2 games against those teams. Though, now seeing Washington's performance against the Spurs, and ALL of the Pelican games, I'm not sure that they're that bad. 

How we play against Portland tomorrow is a real test. Win or lose we're gonna find out a lot about this team and how they're gelling.

[vfromlmf]

The 8 seed last year was only 4 games over .500 vs the Western Conference but they were 26-15 at home. 

If the Mavs are going to make the playoffs, they'll need to beat some playoff caliber teams at home.

Interestingly betting lines now favor the Mavs -1.5 over Portland

[jdb152]

I have to be encouraged by the showing from last night. Portland is a quality team. Of the next three opponents, at this time, I put them ahead of LA and behind DEN. For DAL to play that well in Game 3 is encouraging. The Mavs are going to be a slow burn. As long as they remain healthy, they'll get better and better as the minutes start piling up and the familiarity builds within the sets and rotations.