Mavericks Center Chris Kaman (left) fighting for a loose ball during Wednesday night’s loss to the Suns. (Courtesy of AP)

For the first time since the turn of the millennium, the Dallas Mavericks will miss the postseason and might have their first losing record since the 1999-2000 season.

In what may be their worst effort since an early season blowout against the Lakers, the Mavericks’ hopes to continue past this coming week were dashed in a 102-91 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

Phoenix will likely end the season as the worst team in the western conference and entered the match on a 10-game losing streak. The Mavericks had no reason to lose that game with everything hanging in the balance; playoff aspirations, the streak, a clean-shaven Dirk Nowitzki.

The loss by the Mavericks was compounded by the fact that only four players for the Mavericks scored over six points, while Phoenix had six players in double-figures.

Sun’s guard Goran Dragic led the charge with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 13 assists, while teammate Luis Scola had a subpar shooting night with 11 points on 13 shot attempts, but was able to dominate the boards. The Argentine-native notched 15 boards including five on offense, each one another dagger to the heart of the Mavericks.

While Scola and Dragic did enough damage to Dallas, forward Shawn Marion tried to keep the contest close with a game-high 22 points and a Mavericks-best nine rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki also contributed with 21 points of his own, but made only 6-of-18 shots in the process.

The Mavericks still had a slim chance to make the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs if both the Lakers and Jazz lost their remaining games and Dallas won out.

Unfortunately for the Mavs, Kobe Bryant had a monster night against the Portland Trailblazers, scoring a season-high 47 points in a Los Angeles win to put the final nail in the coffin.

Dallas has many holes to fill this coming offseason, and will need to find a way to acquire several new pieces once the contracts of veterans such as Chris Kaman and Elton Brand run out after this season.

Although it was said last summer the same way it was said the summer before it, this will be the most important couple of months that General Manager Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban have faced in years.

No more taking the draft for granted and overlooking late-round talent, no more holding onto false dreams and thoughts of grandeur for players who simply won’t come here to play, and most importantly, no more dry powder.

Fans of sports in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex are some of the most intelligent in the United States. Trying to sell them on building a team a decade from now maybe a tough mountain to climb, but seeing a team struggle to grow is better than watching them slowly burn and die.

For 12 years, Mavericks fans have been awarded the gloriousness that is the NBA postseason.

So many legendary athletes and coaches have come through Dallas and put on incredible performances.

Thanks to one more lackluster effort in a season filled with poor decisions from nearly every member of the organization, the Mavericks will be resigned to watching them the same way the fans will:from home.