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The Mavericks will attempt to beat the Pistons for the second time in seven days as Dallas heads to Detroit Thursday evening. Dallas, coming off a blow out win in New York and just their fifth road win of the season, is riding a three win in four game stretch. The Pistons are losers of their last two contests but have only played one game since facing Dallas last Friday.
The Mavericks are looking for their first back to back road wins of the season and have a strong chance playing a struggling Detroit squad. Here’s what to watch for:
Who guards Blake Griffin?
If you see the Mavericks roll out their same starting line up, try to not roll your eyes all the way out of your head. For some reason the last contest saw Wesley Matthews, official turnstile of the Dallas Mavericks, get the start on a player in Griffin who should be garnering more MVP discussion. It took over a full half of Griffin roasting either Matthews or Barnes before Coach Carlisle realized he had a good player able to put up some defense in Maxi Kleber sitting right there.
How long it takes for the Maverick coaching staff to reach this conclusion could decide the game, because Blake Griffin is that dominant.
Triple double watch!
Two Dallas Maverick contests bolstered by two Dallas Maverick triple doubles. Dennis Smith Jr. had the magic touch against the Knicks, dishing out a career high 15 helpers to go along with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Doncic threw flames the game prior, pouring in 35 to go along with 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Doncic and Smith are both the two young corner stones and the best two Mavericks. It would be nice to see the coaching staff acknowledge this and let both youngsters continue to cook at the same time. When both play well, Dallas usually looks good. That can’t be said for the rest of the roster.
How to watch
The game tips off at 6:00 CT and can be watched on Fox Sports Southwest or NBA League Pass.