DENVER – The Dallas Mavericks will get a good indication of how far they are in terms of being one of the elite teams in
the Western Conference when they face the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Ball Arena.
The Mavs have slipped to the No. 6 seed in the West, 9.5 games behind the top-seeded Nuggets, who have won six of their last eight games and shown very little signs of slowing down. Owners of the third-best record in the entire NBA, the Nuggets also have the league’s best home record at 26-4.
However, while there’s always been much debate on how Denver’s mile high altitude adversely affects opposing players, the Mavs actually own a victory on the Nuggets’ court this season.
Back on Dec. 6, Luka Doncic collected 22 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Mavs to a 116-115 win in Denver. And that came on the second night of a back-to-back for the Mavs, who won at American Airlines Center against the Phoenix Suns, 130-111, on Dec. 5 before hopping on a plane and traveling to Denver to complete the second leg of a rugged back-to-back.
It was a game where Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a game-high 29 points and converted 6-of-=8 from three-point land, and Dorian Finney-Smith added 19 points on 5-of-10 baskets from downtown. But, Hardaway is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game with right hamstring tightness, and Finney-Smith now plays for the Brooklyn Nets after he was included in the Feb. 6 blockbuster trade which brought Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris to Dallas.
The Mavs are now 0-2 in games Doncic and Irving have both played. They’re hoping to crack the win column Wednesday in what is the Mavs’ final game before the All-Star break.
“We just have to get more timely stops and take care of a few possessions,” Irving said. “That can go either way. We’re playing in the Western Conference, and I’m learning that there’s a lot of physicality (and) a lot of players that go get buckets.
“But towards the end of the game, it’s just about will and body positioning and doing the little things to get you a win. Offensive rebounds down the stretch, too.”
Irving, who scored 26 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter of Monday’s 124-121 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, admits he’s trying to get adjusted to the way Doncic plays.
“Right now, I’m figuring out his pace, especially in the first quarter,” he said. “Coming out of halftime, figuring out what pace we’re going to play at. When we’re up and running and gunning a little bit and switching on the perimeter, doing things that keep the game going, not taking the ball out of the rim.
“(When we’re) forcing them to miss shots and turn the ball over, we’re locked into the details of our adjustments. I feel like we play extremely well when we’re doing that. That pace is great for us. But obviously, we can’t wait until the fourth quarter to get it going like that. That’s on me. We will figure it out a little earlier and be aggressive and just be myself.”
*Christian Wood (non-Covid illness), Reggie Bullock (non-Covid illness) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (right hamstring tightness) are all questionable for Wednesday’s game, while Maxi Kleber (right hamstring tear) is out, and Davis Bertans (left calf strain) is not with the team.
*Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is the NBA’s reigning two-time Most Valuable Player and is in the running to win it for a third straight season. Jokic averages 24.9 ppg, 11.4 rpg and 10.1 apg. He also has 12 games this season where he’s scored at least 27 points, grabbed at least 12 rebounds and distributed at least eight assists. In addition, Jokic has shot at least 50 percent from the field in 44 consecutive games. That’s the longest active streak in the NBA and the league’s longest streak this season by any player.
*After Wednesday’s game, the Mavs won’t play again until they play host to the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 23.
*The 40-18 record posted by the Nuggets matches their best 58-game start in franchise history. They also started the 2018-’19 and ’19-20 seasons with a 40-18 record.
DALLAS MAVERICKS (31-28) at DENVER Nuggets (40-18)
When: 8 p.m., Wednesday
Where: Ball Arena, Denver
TV: Bally Sports Southwest
Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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