Mavericks vs Grizzlies Preview: Game 2 of Dallas and Memphis March Madness

The Dallas Mavericks (34-34) host the Memphis Grizzlies (40-26) at the American Airlines Center on Monday night on ESPN. The Mavericks look to stay above .500 in a key game for the Western Conference standings. The last time Dallas fell below .500 was on December 19th after a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which put the team at 15-16. Let’s get to the key things to know about this game:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs Memphis Grizzlies
• WHAT: Game two of three vs Memphis in March
• WHERE: American Airlines Center, Dallas Texas
• WHEN: 6:30 p.m. CST
• HOW: ESPN

Once again absences define this game as much as anything. On the Dallas side, Luka Doncic is out again with his thigh issue (though there’s some talk he might return against the Spurs). Kyrie Irving is questionable as of this writing (2:30 CST) but perhaps because it’s close to a must-win for Dallas and as the game is on national television, Irving will find a way to play. The Mavericks have to be concerned about his minutes and longevity. For the Grizzlies, Ja Morant, Stephan Adams, and Brandon Clarke are out for various reasons.

Falling under .500 would be very bad, no matter the built in excuses the Mavericks have. Dallas let the game Saturday slip away and Dallas can’t afford to do that again.

We’ll see what we cook up after the game. Thanks for hanging out, go Mavericks.