DALLAS MAVERICKS (1-2) at BROOKLYN NETS (1-3)
When: 6:30 p.m., Thursday.
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn.
TV: Bally’s Sports Southwest/NBA TV.
Radio: 97.1 The Freak, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).
What you need to know: The Nets have had some issues in the early going, and the Mavericks will be catching them on the second night of a back-to-back after Brooklyn visited Milwaukee on Wednesday, played well, but lost 110-99 . . . In that game, the Nets were outscored 67-44 in the second half . . . They already are 0-2 against teams in the Southwest Division, having lost to New Orleans at home and on the road at Memphis on Monday, surrendering 134 points . . . In that game, Ben Simmons fouled out in 28 minutes and had only seven points and eight rebounds . . . Meanwhile, there’s no denying the supreme talent that the Nets possess. Both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had 37 points in the loss at Memphis and they are averaging close to 60 combined in their first three games, and that’s exactly what they scored Wednesday against Milwaukee . . . The Mavericks are trying to avoid a 1-3 start, but even if they do, they’ve been known to rebound from that. They were 1-3 in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, but rallied to make the playoffs . . . Luka Dončić is among the early season scoring leaders at 34.7 points per game, despite shooting just 25 percent (8-of-32) from the 3-point arc. He has hit 87 percent (20-of-23) of his free-throw tries . . . The Mavericks have done a terrific job of rebounding through three games, averaging 54.7 boards per game to just 41 for opponents . . . The Mavericks earned a 113-111 win at Brooklyn last season when Spencer Dinwiddie, who played for the Nets for five seasons, broke their hearts with a 3-point dagger at the buzzer. Dinwiddie is coming off a 24-point outing in New Orleans on Tuesday . . . After this game, the Mavericks play 10 of their next 12 at American Airlines Center, including the next five in a row . . . Tim Hardaway Jr. (right foot soreness) has been upgraded to questionable, while Frank Ntilikina (right ankle) and Davis Bertans (right knee) remain out.
Twitter: @ESefko
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