Wednesday will provide the return of Roddy Beaubois to the Mavericks lineup as they play the Sacramento Kings. It will be their first game of a back-to-back before the All-Star break, they play the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. JJ Barea left practice early on Tuesday with a flu-bug and a groin issue. Rick Carlisle said that he felt the groin issue was doing better. "I think he's going to play," said Carlisle.
Having Barea and Beaubois in the lineup would allow the Mavericks (sans Caron Butler) to be as healthy as they have been in recent months. It is a good situation to be in, but Carlisle does not want to get comfortable with the idea that things will stay this way in terms of health. "Well, listen, we made progress with our health for sure," Carlisle said. "I don't have a good feeling about anything because I think when you start feeling good is when you get into a dangerous situation. We've got to continue to push forward. Even though we have guys that have become healthier there's more ground to cover."
With the roster as is (including Beaubois), Carlisle does have an idea of how the rotation will round out but he remains flexible on the situation. "You can't get too locked into that because circumstances can change," Carlisle said. "You've got to be flexible and that's the most prudent way to go forward with that." The big question will be whether or not Beaubois starts or does he come off the bench? That answer will come minutes before tip off.
Rick Carlisle has mentioned that Roddy Beaubois was at his highest level of consistency while he was on the floor with Jason Kidd, with Beaubois as the shooting guard. If that is the case, why does Jason Kidd think Beaubois plays at his best in that situation? "I think, for me, his strengths are his speed and being able to get out and score," Kidd said. "We were looking for him, before the injury, to kind of learn the point guard position, but he's a natural two-guard in the sense of scoring and being able to put pressure on the defense. For that, me being on the floor, he doesn't have to think about what plays to run, he just has to do what he does best and that's score the ball."
That may be the case, but Kidd does not think the point guard experiment is out of the question. He does believe that Beaubois will make the transition and be able to handle point guard responsibilities. "Eventually he will move over to the point guard position," Kidd said when looking ahead to the future, while assessing the need to get Beaubois minutes. "But, with the injury and the setback right now, (the playing time is) just for him to get on the court and play and get some minutes under his belt...Right now, it's just to make sure he's comfortable playing."
They will have to work on getting him comfortable against a Sacramento Kings team that has pushed them to the limit in each of their two match-ups during the regular season. "They've been tough all year for us to play," Carlisle said. According to the Sacramento Bee, Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal doesn't believe that Tyreke Evans (foot) will be able to play against the Mavericks on Wednesday. Evans' speed and athleticism have given the boys in blue issues, but there are other issues the Mavericks will have to deal with such as DeMarcus Cousins and Sacramento's ability to hit three-point shots against the Mavericks.
The Mavericks/Kings game will tip off at 7:30 pm CST.
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