Mavs honored they get to play on Christmas

While some players may act like the Grinch since they have to play a game on Christmas, the Dallas Mavericks believe it’s a badge of honor to have a game on Christmas. Especially a home game.

“It shows what the league thinks of the team,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s an honor to be able to play on Christmas.

“We’ve all watched Christmas games when you’re younger. The big thing is enjoying having that opportunity.”

The Mavs have that opportunity to play on Christmas mainly because they advanced to last season’s NBA Finals. Also, the NBA recognizes the Mavs as one of the most well-rounded teams in the league with multiple future Hall of Fame selections on their roster, plus a slew of young talented players.

“It’s a great honor,” Kidd said. “This might be one of the first afternoon games for us on Christmas. Normally we’ve been the last game.”

The Mavs will play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. It’s a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals, which the Mavs won in five games.

“It’s special,” point guard Luka Dončić said, referring to playing on Christmas. “A lot of people want to watch the NBA and it’s going to be prime time at home.”

The other four games on Christmas include the New York Knicks hosting the San Antonio Spurs at 11 a.m., Philadelphia playing at Boston at 4 p.m., the Golden State Warriors entertaining the Los Angeles Lakers at 7 p.m., and Denver playing in Phoenix at 9:30 p.m.

Last year the Mavs won in Phoenix on Christmas, 128-114, behind 50 points, six rebounds, 15 assists and four steals in a very special eye-popping performance from Dončić.

“At this portion of the season last year, I was injured,” guard Kyrie Irving said. “I didn’t get to play on Christmas in Phoenix. I don’t think I needed to after Luka had 50.

“Shoutout to the NBA. I’ve had some pretty special Christmas performances, so I’m looking forward to the game and my family being there. And be grateful that you’re not playing at 8:30.”

Here are some other nuggets surrounding the game between the Mavs and Timberwolves.

*This is the finale of a four-game week-long home stand for the Mavericks. The Mavs are 2-1 so far. It started with last Thursday’s 118-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavs followed that up with a 113-97 win over the Clippers on Saturday. And that was followed by Monday’s 132-108 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

*This is the middle game of a three-game road trip for the Timberwolves. They opened with Monday’s 117-104 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. This trip ends for them with Friday’s game in Houston before Minnesota returns home to host the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

*After Wednesday’s game, the Mavs open a four-game trip that will carry into the new year and involves a back-to-back. The Mavs play in Phoenix on Friday, in Portland on Saturday, in Sacramento on Monday, and in Houston on Jan. 1 before returning home to host the powerful Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 3.

*Anthony Edwards is one of the NBA’s bright young stars and is averaging 25.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg for Minnesota. Also for the Timberwolves, Plano native Julius Randle averages 20 ppg and 6.9 rpg, Naz Reid is averaging 12.4 ppg and 5.1 rpg, Rudy Gobert averages 10.3 ppg and 10.6 rpg, and Jaden McDaniels is averaging 10 ppg.

*It’s the first meeting between the Mavs and Timberwolves since Dallas ousted Minnesota four games to one in last season’s Western Conference Finals. That includes the Mavs winning three of those games in Minnesota, which proved again that teams don’t necessarily need the home court advantage in order to win a series.

*The Mavs are one of the hottest teams in the NBA with wins in 14 of their last 17 games. Meanwhile, the T-Wolves have lost eight of their last 14 games and look nowhere near the team that was within three wins of advancing to last season’s NBA Finals.

*Mavs forward Klay Thompson needs just three three-pointers to pass Reggie Miller and move into fifth place on the NBA’s all-time three-point field goals made list. Going into today’s action, the top six players in this category are Stephen Curry (3,841), James Harden (3,022), Ray Allen (2,973), Damian Lillard (2,683), Reggie Miller (2,560) and Thompson (2,558).

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (14-14) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (19-10)

When: 1:30 p.m., Wednesday

Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas

TV: ABC

Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

X: @DwainPrice