Mavericks vs Grizzlies Preview: Game 1 of Dallas and Memphis March Madness

The Dallas Mavericks (34-33) are in Tennesee Saturday night to play the Memphis Grizzlies (39-26). It’s the first of three match ups between these two teams in just 10 days and considering the sheer wildness in the Western Conference, it’s fair to say these games could help decide how the seeding for the playoffs shake out. Let’s get right to the key things:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs Memphis Grizzlies
• WHAT: Game one of three vs Memphis in March
• WHERE: FedEx Forum, Memphis Tennessee
• WHEN: 7:00 p.m. CST
• HOW: Bally Sports SouthWest

On the injury front Luka Doncic is the only Dallas player definitively out for Dallas. Kyrie Irving is dealing with a foot issue but it seems like he’s going to try to suit up judging by his pregame comments. Reggie Bullock is probable after his game-plus absence due to a thigh issue. JaVale McGee is back after hurting his ankle doing... something.

The Grizzlies are missing Ja Morant and if you don’t know why, well I’ll advise you to do some googling. Steven Adams is out with a knee issue that is pretty concerning. Brandon Clarke is out for the season with an Achilles tear.

The Grizzlies are a deep team compared to Dallas though, so this game is still heavily weighted towards Memphis in terms of likely outcome. The Mavericks would need a strong performance from multiple Dallas players to keep pace and while that’s in the range, it’s going to be an uphill battle without Luka Doncic.

Then there’s the Dillion Brooks of it all. Here’s a fun comment from Dillion Brooks in the nested tweet and Kyrie’s response in the main tweet:

Shorter Kyrie Irving: “Bless his heart”.

See everyone after the game, thanks for hanging out with us here at Mavs Moneyball.