Dallas Mavericks forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper (18) dunks the ball ahead of Detroit Pistons guard Jared Rhoden (8) during the first half at American Airlines Center. | Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports Because with the Mavs locked into the 5-seed in the Western Conference playoffs, we don’t care about anything else that happened in this game. The Dallas Mavericks (50-31) had nothing to play for in Friday’s 107-89 loss to the Detroit Pistons (14-67) at American Airlines Center. With the loss, Dallas is locked into the 5-seed in the Western Conference playoffs and will travel to Los Angeles for the first two games of the first-round series with the Clippers. Jaden Hardy led all scorers with 25 points and seven rebounds in the loss for the Mavs. Marcus Sasser, a Dallas-area product who played his high school basketball in Red Oak, led six Pistons in double figures with 24 points in the win. Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving sat out, Derrick Jones Jr, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington all played just the first half, and everybody came away from the meaningless game healthy. But one of the most interesting developments of the evening was the extended playing time offered to rookie Olivier-Maxence Prosper. Prosper played 29 minutes and scored 16 points and six boards. It was the most run O-Max had seen since he scored a season- and career-high 20 points in 30 minutes in a 122-96 loss to the Houston Rockets on Dec. 22. He connected on two of his four 3-point attempts and shot 6-of-12 from the field. “O-Max I thought was great,” Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said in his postgame press conference. “When you look at where he started in October to where he is today — massive jump. And I give credit to the development group and the G-League for that. His future’s bright as we go forward.” Since no one really cares about the rest of the particulars from this one, here are three feel-good O-Max Prosper moments from the Mavs’ loss to the Pistons. Early second quarter: -MAX one-hand JAM pic.twitter.com/3kHSWl7Etd— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) April 13, 2024 On just his second possession on the floor since checking into the game at the beginning of the second quarter, Prosper was on the receiving end of a dish from Jones after finding an open space underneath the rim. Just four minutes later: Filthyyyyyy pic.twitter.com/eof9m8obQK— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) April 13, 2024 Then with 7:20 left in the second quarter, Prosper got a pass from Dante Exum along the left wing and turned the corner with decisiveness. He took a dribble, rose up in the lane and dunked it home over Detroit forward James Wiseman. Fourth quarter: The rook is rockin' the rim pic.twitter.com/VGZlofbTWc— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) April 13, 2024 Then early in the fourth, Hardy found Prosper on a back-cut without a Piston defender in sight on a play that ended in the rookie’s fourth dunk of the game. The good news is that he also found a little rhythm from 3-point range as the game wore on as well. “O-Max plays hard,” Kidd said. “The game has slowed down [for him], and you could see that tonight. He’s never complained about being with the G-League. He’s worked extremely hard. Next year he’ll be competing for rotation minutes.” It’s not that the Mavs plan to use Prosper as a piece in the upcoming playoff run. What Prosper’s continued development points to is the hope that no matter what the Mavericks accomplish this year in the playoffs, the future may be even brighter. Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2024/4/12 ... to-detroit