Dallas Mavericks star big man Anthony Davis, who was out since Feb. 8 with an adductor strain, returned to the floor for Dallas' 120-101 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
Davis posted 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in 27 minutes of action.
The Mavs still hold the No. 11 seed in the west after the Phoenix Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks late Monday. Dallas and Phoenix have identical 35-27 records but the Suns hold the tiebreaker over the Mavs.
Had the Mavs lost, they would have only been two games ahead of the Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs, who are in a three-way tie for the No. 9 overall slot in the NBA Lottery standings.
The Mavs' current lottery position, the No. 12 spot, gives them a 6.2 percent chance of landing a top-4 pick, and a 1.3 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The No. 9 spot gives teams a much higher chance of moving up in the draft - a 20.3 percent of landing a top-four selection and a 4.5 percent chance at the top pick.
With Davis back on the floor, and Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford presumably expected to return before the season concludes, Dallas has officially punted on tanking for a better pick in an effort to make the play-in tournament.
Shan & RJ discussed the Mavs' decision to push for the play-in tournament and the playoffs without Kyrie Irving instead of increasing their chances of getting Duke star forward Cooper Flagg.
Is Nico Harrison forcing the issue or should Davis' desire to play outweigh tanking?
Listen to the discussion in the podcast above