The Dallas Mavericks season is over after the Memphis Grizzlies dominated them in the final Play-In game, beating the Mavericks 120-106 Friday night in Memphis.

The Grizzlies will be the West’s eighth seed and face the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Mavericks will go home.

Anthony Davis led all scorers with 40 points, while chipping in nine rebounds, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Davis also left the game midway through the fourth quarter with a leg injury. Davis was battling through various ailments all night — throughout the game he was seen holding both his left and right legs, and also his midsection.

Memphis jumped on Dallas early and it was never really all that close. The Grizzlies feasted in transition, turning the Mavericks over early and running constantly to get ahead of the Mavericks double-big lineup. It was nearly impossible for the Mavericks bigs to guard the rim because Memphis was in transition in the blink of an eye after a turnover or missed shot. The Grizzlies led 39-24 after the first quarter.

Funny enough that was really all the Grizzlies needed. The rest of the quarters were closely contested, but due to how hard Memphis blitzed Dallas early, they were just maintaining a 15-20 lead seemingly the entire night.

The only glimmer of hope for Dallas was an 8-0 run to end the second quarter, which kept the lead at a respectable 17 instead of something much worse. That run extended to a 17-2 run at the start of the third quarter. Once the Mavericks were able to play in the half-court, they were able to stymie the Grizzlies momentum. Dallas had a chance to cut the lead to four midway through the third, but missed a three. Memphis regained its poise and closed the third quarter up 18. That was the death blow, especially once Davis left the game halfway through the fourth quarter.

We can all finally move on from this miserable turd of a season

It’s over. It’s all over. The 2024-2025 Mavericks will not play another game this season, capping off perhaps the worst-feeling season in the history of pro sports. Mercifully, Dallas fans can try to not think about the Mavericks.

I know that sounds weird, but everyone needs a break. The players, the fans, the team employees, media, broadcasters, marketers, video producers — all of us. The Luka Doncic trade was so catastrophically stupid that it detonated an entire organization over night, and while for the most part the two main people responsible have hidden from the public eye, the rest of us are left either picking up the pieces or having to shield the team from that awful decision, whether anyone likes it or not.

You know who really needs a break? Nico Harrison and Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont. Those two need permanent breaks from the game of basketball. Maybe a lifetime ban.

I can’t remember a season as awful as this. So many fans I know personally just don’t want to watch the team anymore. It sucks. While the season is over and that represents some reprieve, Doncic and the Lakers begin their playoff run this weekend. None of this will get any easier.

This game was a good summation of the post-trade Mavericks: they never really gave up, they mostly played hard, but they still stunk. Memphis is a team that can really only get it going in transition and playing fast, so the Mavericks did not protect the ball and let the Grizzlies run wild on the fastbreak. From there it was never really all that close, although credit the Mavericks for not totally rolling over. Again, they play hard and they never quit on coach Jason Kidd. But the roster has been nuked to holy hell and there’s no going back.

Anthony Davis gutting it out and putting up 40, but also having to leave the game in the fourth quarter was an almost too on-the-nose foreshadowing of what the next era of Mavericks basketball is going to look like for the next three to four years, unless Dumont finally pulls the ripcord on Harrison’s reign.

I don’t really have much else for y’all. I am tired, and this season has done irreparable harm to my desires to keep being a media person that covers the Mavericks. We’ll keep plugging away for now. See y’all on the other side.