NEW YORK – Injuries have taken a toll on a lot of teams this season, especially the Mavericks. The injury bug also has
taken a bite out of the New York Knicks, who the Mavs will play Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
And it’s threatened to throw a wrench into what was expected to be a big-time showdown between a slew of the NBA’s prime-time players.
For starters, Mavs guards Luka Doncic (broken nose) and Kyrie Irving (sprained right thumb) are listed as probable to play against the Knicks. Other members of the Mavs who are fighting to get back on the court include Dereck Lively II (fractured nose) and Dante Exum (right knee soreness), who both will miss Thursday’s game, while Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation) is listed as questionable.
The news is even more alarming for the Knicks, who saw guard Jalen Brunson sprain his right ankle during Tuesday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Brunson is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game.
However, Brunson’s top running mate, forward Julius Randle, has a dislocated right shoulder which he suffered during a win on Jan. 27 against the Miami Heat and will not play on Thursday. The injury has already caused Randle to miss the past five games.
Brunson and Randle were named to this season’s Eastern Conference All-Star team for the Feb. 18 game in Indianapolis. But the injury 
has forced Randle to sit out the league’s mid-season classic.
Also for the Knicks, OG Anunoby (bone spur irritation in his elbow), Mitchell Robinson (left ankle stress fracture) and Quentin Grimes (sprained knee) are all listed as out for Thursday’s game, which will be televised nationally on TNT.
*This is the finale of a three-game road trip for the Mavs before they fly home to host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Mavs are 2-0 on this road trip after winning Monday in Philadelphia (118-102) and Tuesday in Brooklyn (119-107). The Mavs haven’t swept a road trip this season that consist of at least three games.
*The red-hot Knicks have won 10 of their last 11 games. The only loss occurred last Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-105. That’s also the Knicks’ lone loss on this six-game homestand, where they’re 3-1. The homestand concludes with Saturday’s game against Indiana before the Knicks travel to Houston to play the Rockets on Monday.
*Mavs guard Luka Doncic is now the official NBA scoring leader with 34.5 ppg. That’s because the previous leader, Philadelphia 76ers ce
nter, Joel Embiid – he averages 35.3 ppg — fell off the list earlier this week because he has only participated in 68 percent of his team’s games. A player must play in at least 70 percent of his team’s games to be eligible to be listed among the league leaders in any statistical category.
*A pair of players with close ties to North Texas are the unquestionable leaders for the Knicks. Jalen Brunson, who was a second-round draft pick by Dallas in 2018 and played four seasons for the Mavs before leaving via free agency in 2022, averages 27.2 ppg and 6.5 apg. Knicks forward Julius Randle, who played his high school basketball at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, averages 24 ppg, 9.2 rpg and five assists.
*Besides Doncic (34.5 ppg), guards Kyrie Irving (25.5 ppg) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (17.9) are the only other Mavs’ player averaging at least 10 ppg this season. Doncic also averages 8.8 rpg and 9.4 apg, while Irving averages five rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
*The Mavs defeated the Knicks, 128-124, in Dallas, on Jan. 11 in a game Luka Doncic missed due to an ankle injury. But Kyrie Irving scored 44 points in 40 minutes in that contest and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 32 points, while Randle (32 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Brunson (30 points, eight assists) were key contributors for the Knicks.
DALLAS MAVERICKS (28-23) at NEW YORK KNICKS (33-18)
When: 6:30 p.m., Thursday
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV: TNT
Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
X: @DwainPrice
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