DALLAS -- Coach Rick Carlisle insists he likes to take everything "day-to-day." Conventional wisdom pushes the 30-15 Mavs to glance out on the horizon, though, with this gauntlet of a week featuring two back-to-back games and four contests in five nights.
But the hellishness of what faces the Mavs actually spans a month, dating from last weekend -- and a pair of last-second losses to Chicago and New Orleans -- to Feb. 20, when the Mavs will have played 14 games in 20 days ... and that includes the All-Star Break in the middle.
Prior to the break Dallas will have played 12 games in 20 days. Seven of the games in the stretch are on the road. It includes three back-to-back games. Only five of the 14 games will be against teams that currently have a losing record.
The grind continues tonight, against the Southwest Division-leading Grizzlies, visiting the AAC for a rematch of a game a week ago that marked a Dallas "signature win." It was part of a push that saw the Mavs elevate themselves to fourth place in the West, just a sliver behind Memphis.
But now?
"Today we're not in a good place because we've dropped two games in a row and haven't played well," Carlisle said. "(Memphis, 32-12) is going to be very motivated ... coming in here after we beat them back at their place. We just need to pick it up."
And once it's "picked up," it needs to stay "up.''
After tonight's Grizzlies match comes a Wednesday trip to division rival Houston. Then there's a day off before a weekend back-to-back roadie in Florida. That's it for the week ... but the month-long stretch is just starting, as later this gauntlet features a Feb. 4th-5th back-to-back at Warriors and at Kings and then a visit from Portland before a merciful All-Star Break that is immediately followed by OKC and Houston on back-to-backs.
It would be wildly optimistic to think the Mavs will end this stretch on Feb. 20 in the same lofty four-spot-region perch in the standings at which they started it.
But if they do? They'll have survived not only day-to-day, not only a challenging week, but Hell Month.
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