Mavs’ marathon trip offers tough foes, grand opportunities

NEW ORLEANS – The Mavericks’ longest trip of the season starts Wednesday, a five-game, 10-day journey. And we will know so much more about this team when the marathon ends next month.

For instance, we’ll know who the new Maverick(s) will be since the trade deadline coincides with the Feb. 6 game at Boston that concludes the trip. And if history holds true we always know the Mavericks will be active trade partners with somebody because, well, they’re the Mavericks.

And we’ll know whether Luka Dončić will be back before the All-Star break, which begins a week after the Mavericks return home from their odyssey. Or maybe if the injury gods show some mercy, he returns during the trip.

We will even find out if Kyrie Irving makes the All-Star Game as a Western Conference reserve. The backups will be announced Thursday.

But in the big picture, finding out what the Mavericks will be fighting for the rest of the season will largely depend on how they handle these next five games.

Are they destined to be scrapping from behind, hoping to stay in a play-in spot (seventh through 10^th) in the standings? Or will they have a legitimate shot at a top-six seed that would avoid the play-in?

We won’t address the chances of getting a home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. That not only is pretty much out of the question, but also unimportant, as the Mavericks showed last spring when they never had the home-court advantage but won their way to the NBA Finals nonetheless.

And by the way, the play-in scenario isn’t necessarily anything to fret about. The key is to make the playoffs, anyway you can. The way the Mavericks are built, if they get healthy, they could make a lot of noise against any opponent in the West, just as they proved last season as the No. 6 seed.

But there is little doubt that the results of this trip, which gets more difficult as it goes along, will go a long way toward giving the Mavericks and their fans clues about where everything is headed in the regular season.

After New Orleans, they go to Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Boston, with a day off in between every game. That means some rest. But probably no real practice time, should Dončić be ready to return before the trip ends.

And the caliber of opponent is stiff. Cleveland and Boston are the top two teams in the Eastern Conference and both already have won in Dallas. Detroit is a .500 team and solidly in the East playoff hunt. Only Philadelphia, which like the Mavericks has had a rough season with injuries, notably to Joel Embiid, is under .500 at 17-27.

However, this also is a time when the Mavericks can pick up some steam. Everybody in the NBA is the last couple weeks before the All-Star break. They all need to get away from the grind.

So the teams that can fight through that temptation to hit the cruise control button can stack up some good wins at this time of the year.

Here’s what else to watch for as the Mavericks and Pelicans meet in The Big Easy:

• The Pelicans’ season fell apart early when they started 5-29, playing most of that time without Zion Williamson. Since then, they have gone 7-6 and had a four-game winning streak that included a win in New Orleans over the Mavericks on Jan. 15, 119-116. In that game, the Mavericks did not have Luka Dončić or Kyrie Irving. They also were outscored 32- 25 in the fourth quarter, when they were outrebounded 11-4.
• The Pelicans just finished a three-game trip in Toronto, where they lost 113-104 to the Raptors by giving up a fourth-quarter lead. New Orleans went 0-3 on the trip.
• Zion Williamson has played just 12 games this season, although he is coming off a 31-point, seven-rebound effort in just 28 minutes against the Raptors. But even when the former No. 1 overall pick has played, the Pelicans are only 3-9.
• More reliable of late have been C.J. McCollum (22 points per game) and Trey Murphy III, a notorious Mavericks’ destroyer, who averaged 21.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
• Klay Thompson is coming off an in-the-zone shooting night in the 130-108 win over Washington on Monday. He hit 7-of-10 three-pointers in the first quarter. “It’s definitely a confidence builder and something I can lean on going into the rest of the season,” he said. “We have so much basketball ahead of us.” Thompson also said he’s open to the idea of participating in All-Star Weekend in some capacity, likely shooting three-pointers. “That’d be fun,” he said. “I don’t know the details, but if the opportunity presents itself, that would be cool to be part of.”
• The Mavericks’ injury list remains outrageous but is getting slightly less outrageous. While Dončić (left calf strain) continue to rehabilitate, the Mavericks also are without centers Dereck Lively II (ankle stress fracture), Maxi Kleber (foot fracture) and Dwight Powell (hip). On the bright side, Naji Marshall (illness) has been upgraded to questionable. And for the first time this season, guard Dante Exum (right wrist surgery in preseason) is upgraded to doubtful.
• Lively on Tuesday was selected to play in the Castrol Rising Stars Game as part of All-Star Weekend, but will not be able to participate in that game because of his injury. Lively also took part in the rookie-sophomore game last season as a rookie. He’s the first Maverick since Luka to be involved in the rising stars showcase. Lively is averaging 9.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. He leads all sophomores in field-goal percentage at .701. The game will be Feb. 14 at 8 p.m., Dallas time.
• The Pelicans are without Herbert Jones (shoulder). In addition, Brandon Ingram has been out since early December with an ankle injury.

DALLAS MAVERICKS (25-22) at NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (12-35)

WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday.

WHERE: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans.

TV: Ch. 8, KFAA 29, MAVSTV STREAM.

RADIO: KEGL 97.1 FM, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

X: @ESefko