Just how bad has the Mavericks' play been at home during the season's back half? Not nearly as bad as it was in the 90s.
DALLAS - Fans began filing out of American Airlines Center in groups at the 8 minute mark of the fourth quarter in the Dallas Mavericks' Wednesday night loss to the Atlanta Hawks, 135-120.
That's become a regular occurrence, with MFFLs instead preferring to beat the traffic home over rooting for a comeback.
Not only have fans not had an opportunity to watch in the Mavs more than a couple times this month, but they also haven't seen much to cheer about.
Dallas' loss to the Hawks (who have now won 11 straight) is now the 10th consecutive defeat inside the once-friendly confines of the AAC.
This contest was just the third home game of the month of March for the Mavericks as eight of the last 10 games have been on the road in a grueling mid-season trek.
The inconsistencies and lack of chemistry that was on display against the Hawks (including 19 turnovers by the home team that warranted a collective groan after each) makes this current home losing streak one of the longest in franchise history.
But it still won't catch the worst of the worst from the 1992-93 season.
In that year, the Mavericks had a season-high home losing stretch of 19 games, which set the NBA record. They also had a string of 12-straight home losses in '94.
The Mavs' current home streak is now the third-longest in franchise history and the longest active mark across the NBA.
How much worse could it get? Well, with just 12 games to go and half of them being at home, the largest the streak could get would be at 16 games. Dallas' upcoming home games are against the LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls.
The Mavs will be underdogs in most of these contests as a high lottery pick is almost inevitable for the team, which dropped to 23-47 overall after Wednesday.
One outlier could be the Warriors, who are the last team the Mavericks beat in Dallas back on Jan. 22 shortly after the Dubs lost veteran guard Jimmy Butler for the season with a torn ACL.
Up next is a battle with Kawhi Leonard's Clippers on Saturday March 21 at 8:30 p.m. CST.
Mavs fans' eyes are likely already glued to the bottom-feeder standings to monitor the odds of lottery luck before this summer's NBA Draft, but now there's another form of streak that's worth paying attention to.
That is, if they stay in their seats long enough to see it through.
