Nothing about this season has gone according to plan for the Dallas Mavericks.

Just a year removed from a run to the NBA Finals, the team finished 10th in the Western Conference and is now fighting just to keep its season alive in the play-in. To make matters even worse, franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic is no longer with the team following one of the most unforgettable trades in league history.

Mavericks fans have every right to be angry with the team’s front office, but for at least one night, they had a reprieve from their nightmare of a season.

Dallas pulled off an emphatic 120-106 win over the Sacramento Kings in the #9 versus #10 Western Conference play-in game to force a do-or-die match with the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed of this year’s postseason. The Mavericks pulled away late in the second quarter behind the hot shooting of Klay Thompson then Anthony Davis, the main piece they acquired for Doncic, kept the Kings at bay in the second half.

The 32-year-old Davis finished with a team-high 27 points along with three three-pointers, nine rebounds, an assist, a steal, and three blocks. Thompson, now 35 years old, added 23 points, five three-pointers, five rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block.

It was an impressive win by Dallas, who leaned on their size advantage to wear down Sacramento throughout the game. With the Mavericks, Anthony Davis has finally returned to his preferred position of power forward and is playing like a man determined to prove that his frustrations with playing center for the Los Angeles Lakers were warranted.

After Kyrie Irving tore his ACL last month, Dallas’ chances of making a deep postseason run plunged, yet this play-in game and any success that they have from here on out should give their front office–and more importantly, their fans–some semblance of hope.

Though their overall championship window is significantly smaller now with three 30-something stars leading the team, these Mavericks possess a tantalizing mix of size, shooting, and playmaking that should make them at least a dark horse candidate to win the championship next season. Much of this hinges on Irving’s successful return from his recent surgery, though given modern medical advancements, an ACL tear is no longer the career tombstone that it once was.

Dallas heads into the second and final play-in game against the Grizzlies with nothing to lose and everything to gain. They have the advantage in the front court with the physically imposing quartet of Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and P.J. Washington matched up against Memphis’ frontline which consists of natural power forwards Jaren Jackson Jr. and Santi Aldama along with untested rookie Zach Edey.

The Mavericks’ fan base may be eager for this nightmare of a season to end—but any additional success, whether it’s clinching the eighth seed or even pulling off an unlikely first-round upset, should be embraced. If one squints hard enough, the foundation of a good team is there for Dallas and in a league that is as unpredictable as the NBA, sometimes this glimmer of hope is the best thing that a team’s loyal follower can hope for.