Let’s talk about the elephant in the room first. I definitely thought that the Dallas Mavericks would have serious issues with staying afloat while they waited for Luka Doncic to come back from his ankle injury.

I wasn’t the only person to share those thoughts, and it seems like Kristaps Porzingis and the rest of the Mavs have taken upon themselves to prove all doubters wrong.

In the three games since their defeat to the Miami Heat, where Doncic went down, the Mavs have traded wins and losses with the East’s best teams and looked like they belonged in all three games.

First, they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 120-116. That game saw Giannis Antetokounmpo drop 48 points on them.

They then lost to the Boston Celtics by a thin 109-103 in a game that saw Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, and Jaylen Brown combine for 82 points.

Today’s win takes the cake though, with them trouncing the Philadelphia 76ers on the road, silencing their fans with a 117-98 thrashing. The 76ers weren’t short-handed either, they had their entire starting five intact.

The common thought among all three of these games was that the Mavs would get their asses kicked in all of the games. They were big underdogs in all of those games, which makes these results even more impressive.

Here are a couple of key takeaways from their recent performances.

The Unicorn is back in NBA shape

In his last four games (including the Miami game where Doncic went down), Porzingis is averaging 23 points and 14 rebounds. This includes a career high 18 rebounds against the 76ers.

He’s showing that he can help lead the team when they need him, and that the trade with the Knicks was worth it.

It still feels like he has another level to hit, especially once he has a full season of playing with Doncic. His unique blend of size and skill is going to be a tough challenge for all opponents.

The Mavs just have to hope that he stays healthy, especially since he was out for so long with his knee problems.

The Mavs are learning to trust their bench

The vacuum that Doncic’s injury created has helped shine a light on some of the Mavs role players.

Seth Curry put up 26 points off the bench against the Bucks, and 20 against the Celtics. Tim Hardaway had an efficient 27 points against the 76ers and 28 against the Heat.

The other young players on the roster have also pitched in, and it’s a promising sign. Sure, the ball will always go through Doncic (and at times Porzingis), but having bench players that are ready to answer the call are an integral part of successful playoff runs.

Rick Carlisle is a title-winning coach that understands this, and he’s going to be pretty happy about how things are turning out.

They can let Doncic take a bit of extra time to recover

There were fears that Doncic would be unavailable until after Christmas, but that was before the Mavs continued to play at a high level without him.

After going 2-1 against the best from the east, the Mavs might want to play safe and rest Doncic for a couple more games. Their record was meant to be 0-3 at this juncture so they’re already ahead.

Their next three games look winnable, against the Raptors, Spurs, and Warriors. With the way the team is playing, they should honestly look at sitting their young superstar until the last game of the year against the Lakers.

Should the Mavs take two of the next three games, they’ll finish with a very respectable 4-2 record and still have a decent cushion in the playoff race. Lose the Lakers and they still close out the year with a 4-3 run when many thought that they might go 2-5 or 1-6.

As it stands, they’re still a top-four team in the West, and they would want Doncic to be as healthy as possible to finish out the rest of the season.