Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) during the first quarter at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images / Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks finally have a little bit of a break after losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup on Tuesday, only playing once until Thursday, December 19th. That’s giving some players some much-needed rest and recuperation after a lengthy stretch of games on the road, including Luka Doncic.

Doncic started the season slowly but was named Western Conference Player of the Week last week after going 3-0 with triple-doubles against the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards. Despite only playing one game this week and not performing well against the Thunder, Doncic has moved in the NBA’s latest MVP ladder.

Shaun Powell has moved Doncic to 6th, up from 8th last week. He’s behind Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, and Karl-Anthony Towns.

It’ll be interesting to see if Jokic starts falling if the Nuggets continue to be mediocre, as that’s what happened to Doncic last season. Denver enters Friday 12-10, sitting 7th in the Western Conference standings, despite Jokic putting up absurd numbers.

Doncic is still fourth in FanDuel’s MVP odds (+800) behind Jokic (-115), Gilgeous-Alexander (+310), and Antetokounmpo (+700). Gilgeous-Alexander is starting to gain some steam after scoring 39 points against the Mavericks on Tuesday, while Doncic and Irving combined for 33 in that game.