As the new season approached, the Dallas Mavericks looked to build on their unprecedented run of 2002-03. They started off on the right foot by acquiring Antawn Jamison, Danny Fortson, Jiri Welsch and Chris Mills from Golden State in exchange for Nick Van Exel, Evan Eschmeyer, Popeye Jones, Avery Johnson and Antoine Rigaudeau.

A week before the regular season began, the Dallas Mavericks were involved in another high-profile trade that sent Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills and Jiri Welsch to Boston for Antoine Walker and Tony Delk. With all the pieces in place, the Dallas Mavericks were ready to make an action-packed run for the championship.

The start of the season proved rough for the Dallas Mavericks as the team struggled to put all the pieces together and create some chemistry. The Dallas Mavericks picked up some steam in January and recorded a season high nine game winning streak. The Dallas Mavericks carried that momentum into February, as they finished with a 9-2 record which marked the best winning percentage for that month in team history (81.8%).

By the end of the season, the Dallas Mavericks had made the playoffs for the fourth-straight year (10th overall) and were named 2nd among all sport franchises in ESPN The Magazine’s Fan Satisfaction Rankings. Dallas was a franchise best 36-5 at home and became the sixth the Dallas Mavericks team to win at least 50 games. They joined the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs as the only four teams to have won at least 50 games in each of the past four seasons.

Head Coach Don Nelson was at the helm as he led the team to another history making year. With the 2003-04 season under his belt, he has recorded a total of 13 50-win seasons and is tied with Phil Jackson for the second most 50-win seasons in NBA history. On Nov. 11, 2003, Nellie coached his 250th game with the Dallas Mavericks and on Dec. 15, 2003, he won is 1111th game as a head coach, surpassing Pat Riley for second-place on the all-time coaching list.