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When you're a team fighting for postseason positioning in the final weeks of the season, one thing you don't want to do is lose to a team that is already resigned to a lottery landing. But, that's exactly what the Dallas Mavericks did twice this weekend, as they dropped consecutive Game s to the Charlotte Hornets, who have the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference.  With their playoff lives hanging in the balance, the Mavericks lost to the Hornets 117-109 on Friday night, and then they followed that up with a 110-104 matinee loss to Charlotte on Sunday. The Mavs have now lost four straight Game s, and they sit on the outside of the playoff picture looking in -- 11th in the Western Conference with a 36-39 overall record.  To make matters worse , Mavericks guard Luka Doncic received his 16th technical foul on the season on Sunday, which means that he's in line for an automatic one- Game su...

It's no secret the Dallas Mavericks rely on Luka Doncic heavily to pull out wins on a nightly basis. He leads the league in scoring so far this season (33.5 points per game), is second in usage rate (37.1 percent) and the Mavericks' success is determined by his nightly performance.  Tuesday night was no exception, as Doncic lifted Dallas to a 116-113 win over the Golden State Warriors in which he posted 41 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds, marking his third 40-point triple-double of the season. After the game, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd lauded his All- NBA guard, while also throwing in a joke to show just how commonplace Doncic's outstanding feats have become.  "Yeah it's getting boring," Kidd joked after the game about Doncic's 41-point triple-double . "I mean, let's see some thing different. Do some thing -- maybe do it with his left ...

NEW YORK -- When Kyrie Irving's trade request was reported on Friday, Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton's phone started going crazy.  "I was taking a nap," Claxton said. "And I looked in one of my group chats and I saw it and I was like, 'Wow.' Just caught me off guard. But it is what it is." Nets wing Royce O'Neale said he was "surprised" by Irving's trade request, adding that he found out the "same way everybody else did: Twitter."  "We're just like everybody else," Claxton said. "We're caught off guard." Irving's future in Brooklyn is uncertain. The Nets have three games before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, starting with Saturday's matchup against the Washington Wizards. Irving "reported some calf soreness," coach Jacque Vaughn said, so he'll miss the Wizards game. Claxton said he learned...