The primetime tip for the Mavs and Knicks is less than an hour away, so here is a quick run down of the storylines to watch for as Linsanity collides with the Dirkster.
First, and most importantly, Jason Terry is a go today. Having another scoring and ball-handler in the backcourt will help Jason Kidd immensely, because Rodrigue Beaubois has not made a return to the team yet. Don't rule out seeing some minutes for Dominique Jones, however, as Carlisle was complementary of the minutes he's given the past couple games. It seems likely that there may be a few minutes here and there with the young guard, especially if Kidd is to stay under thirty minutes.
"All things considered I'm very pleased with what [Dominique Jones's] done these two games," Carlisle said. "He's played the backup point position, he defended, he's done what we've asked within our system, so it's been very positive."
Carmelo will miss this game, and plans for a return on Monday. He certainly brings an interesting dynamic that could screw up the chemistry, but ultimately, this is a good thing for the Mavericks. No Carmelo will free up Shawn Marion to defend Jeremy Lin, certainly the most anticipated match-up of the night.
Of course, this post would not be complete without some Jeremy Lin stats, via ESPN's Brian Windhorst. His two leading assist targets? He's dished 18 dimes to Chandler, five of the alley oop variety, and 20 to Steve Novak. One person he has not assisted to is Carmelo Anthony, despite 31 minutes of shared court time. Think Lin's five straight games of six+ turnovers is bad? Well, at least he's in some pretty good company.
Since '77 8 guys have 6+ TOs in 5 straight games: J. Lin, C. Barkley, S. Nash, A. Gilmore, K. Malone, D. Coleman, B.McAdoo, I. Thomas
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) February 19, 2012
The game starts at noon, central time, on ABC. Be there.