What’s the best recovery game for an spunky loss to OKC? How about a date with the San Antonio Spurs in the AT&T Center, where they are near invincible?
Still, even as the world burns, the Mavs will always play the Spurs.
Next D-Leaguer up
With Deron Williams and J.J. Barea still doing Deron Williams and J.J. Barea health things, the bulk of the PG minutes will be logged by Devin Harris and Seth Curry but no longer Pierre Jackson. Jackson, who started on Thursday and actually led the Mavs in plus-minus in that game, is now on the street with a pink slip and a cardboard box holding office supplies and his bad hamstring.
The Mavs fired up their Deliver a PG App and ordered a side of Yogi Ferrell on the "Fresh Ten Day Contract" special. Ferrell has already seen NBA action in Brooklyn with ten game appearances and will be called upon if the game gets out of hand.
Return of Wesley Matthews
After missing two games, Wesley Matthews is back from his hip strain injury and we’ll see what this means for the Mavericks rotation with Jackson gone and Williams still out. Carlisle will juggle the starting lineup and the biggest question is does Seth Curry go back to the bench or slide over to the one?
Either way, Matthews’ return will signal the fade of Dorian Finney-Smith whose pokey defense and three-point shooting over the last three games (averaging 2.0 steals and 1.7 threes per game) have been fun to watch. If Matthews is 100 percent, expect minutes for DFS to be back in the teens.
Kawhi vs Harry B
This is the jewel of the game. Over the last few games, Harrison Barnes has been matched up and held his own against various star small forwards (Carmelo Anthony, Gordon Hayward, Jimmy Butler). Well, the platinum standard out west is here. Kawhi Leonard has quietly put a MVP calibre campaign where his possible threepeat DOPY defense is now outfitted with a scary offensive efficient game. Barnes is still a couple levels below Kawhi as a player but as Barnes continues to climb the NBA SF power rankings, checking Kawhi will be a good look at how far he’s come (and still has to go).
How to watch
Tip-off is at 6:00 p.m. Central. You can catch the game on Fox Sports Southwest or League Pass.