With the bottom of the Western Conference as crowded as it is, two losses in the final two weeks of the NBA regular season can have the Dallas Mavericks on the outside regarding the NBA's Play-in tournament. 

That doesn't necessarily bode well for a Mavericks team that is 5-10 in the last 15 games and has dealt with injuries to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. But with nine games left in the season, Dallas must "refocus," as Doncic put it, if the team aspires to make the most of what has been a disappointing season following a trip to the Western Conference finals in 2022. 

"The mood is not good, obviously. Every time you lose, it’s bad. We have to figure out what is next," Doncic said. We have to just refocus."

The Mavericks have a final stretch that includes extremely winnable games against the Charlotte Hornets (twice) and Indiana Pacers. If the Mavericks pick up three wins, it will create a cushion heading into a final mad dash that includes a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Miami Heat, followed by the Atlanta Hawks, and the Sacramento Kings. 

In a stroke of luck for Dallas, if the playoff/play-in race comes down to the final two games, the Mavs have Chicago and San Antonio to sure-up seeding. 

Working in the Mavericks' favor is Doncic's return from his leg injury. The 24-year-old superstar played in the Mavericks' loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. 

For as long as he was out of the rotation, he looked much like his before-injury self. He recorded 30 points and 17 rebounds in 41 minutes. And following the game, he assessed that his return went as well as one could expect after an extended absence from the lineup. 

"I think a little better than I expected," Doncic said of how he felt in his first game in two weeks. "I missed a couple of shots. I just tried to get back."

Irving's situation appears a bit more uncertain. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, Irving re-injured his foot when Dillon Brooks stepped on it. In the postgame media scrum, Irving was in a walking boot and explained that it was only "precautionary." 

But then Irving didn't play against the Warriors. 

And his status ahead of Friday's contest against Charlotte is "questionable," per Mavericks PR.

If Irving is able to play, that doesn't guarantee victory. When both Doncic and Irving play, the Mavs possess a losing record (3-6), and the team is quickly running out of time to figure out its identity ahead of the win-or-go-home portion of the season. 

That may change as the schedule eases for Dallas, and as Doncic said, the rest of the Mavericks refocus on what really matters ahead of the play-in tournament.