Why is Dallas underachieving as the season goes on?

[Clippersfan86]

Luka is a legit MVP candidate in year 2, coming for the crown. Porzingis is having a nice bounceback. They have solid depth. They have the NBA's best team offensive rating in history (top 5 I believe when adjusted for pace/possessions). They are clearly better at their peak than OKC/Houston/Utah this year, yet after hovering close to that 3-5 seed for a while.. they have now been 7th for a bit. They rank 5th in the league in SRS and 5th in net rating. I personally think TALENT wise this team is probably the 4 or 5 seed out west. Why is their record/seeding worse than their talent and peak play? I know the injury to Powell didn't help, but what else? I'm a huge fan of Luka (my favorite player in the NBA right now, even more than Kawhi) and the Mavs young core (like Jalen Brunson and Unicorn), but just wondering what caused the slip.

PS... Luka could be the best player in the league as soon as next season, taking the crown from Giannis.

[ArbitraryWater]

Then you should have noticed the injuries to Doncic and Porzingis which caused their record to dip playa..

[Akeem34TheDream]

Doncic was better in the first half of the season 2 years in a row. He will learn how to pace himself. He must if he wants success at the playoffs.