"God tier tanking" - Fans put Mavericks in lottery conversation after giving up 14 points in nearly a minute to lose key game

The Dallas Mavericks's season hit a new low on Wednesday as they blew a seven-point lead in the closing stages of their key road matchup at Indiana Pacers. The Mavs led 128-121, but the Pacers scored 14-3 in the final 67 seconds to win the game 131-135.

The loss dropped Dallas to 11th in the Western Conference and saw them crash out of the play-in tournament, given their 33-37 record for the season.

Reacting to the wild turn of events, fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their opinions, with some alleging that Dallas tanked the game to have a shot at the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery.

"God tier tanking," a fan tweeted.

"It’s almost like… they’ve been trying to lose?!?" a fan tweeted.

"MAVS fans are happy lol that's a great tank job," a fan tweeted.

"They need to teach some of these Eastern teams how to properly tank," a fan tweeted.

Other fans expressed disbelief at how the game turned out.

"How tf do you give up 14 pts in 1:07," a fan tweeted.

"How does that happen. Dribble the ball out lol," a fan tweeted.

If the Dallas Mavericks intentionally tanked the game, it wouldn't be the first time. They did so in the last two games of the 2022-23 season, which kept them out of the play-in tournament. The NBA even fined the Mavs $750,000 for what the league called "conduct detrimental to the league."

However, the episode led them to acquire Dereck Lively II in the 2023 Draft, which helped them reach the NBA Finals the following season.

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NBA insider provides insights into Mavericks' offseason plans

Featuring on Run It Back recently, NBA insider Mike Curtis provided insight into the Dallas Mavericks's team-building plans in the 2025 NBA offseason. While highlighting that the team would have the best opportunity to clinch a championship in the next few seasons, Curtis shared that the Mavs would be looking to onboard another primary ball handler.

"In the offseason, this team is definitely going to need another point guard, another primary ball handler," Curtis said. "You had something like that when you had Luka and Kyrie together…when one was hurt, the other could pick up the slack.”

The Mavericks have steadily gone downhill since they traded their star, Luka Doncic, to the LA Lakers in February. While their hopes of a comeback this season are not all gone, they would likely rather focus on the next one with their primary players out due to injury.