With three Dallas Mavericks’ starters playing heavy minutes during Tuesday’s 103-101 victory over the Los Angeles
Clippers, it remains to be seen who will be available to play tonight when the Mavs entertain the Houston Rockets.
Shooting guard Spencer Dinwiddie played 41 minutes against the Clippers, point guard Luka Doncic logged 40 minutes and forward Dorian Finney-Smith was on the court for 36 minutes. Those are significant minutes on the front end of a back-to-back that could affect these three players’ playing status for tonight’s game.
Coach Jason Kidd, however, doesn’t seem to be at all worried.
“Those guys are well conditioned and understand what’s at stake in this game (against the Clippers),” Kidd said. “We put ourselves in a position to win it, and we can only focus on that.
“(Tonight) we’ll figure out who’s playing and who’s not.”
Kidd had previously talked about giving the over-worked Doncic some time off. Could that come tonight against a Rockets’ squad that has the worst record in the entire NBA?
“We’ll see about that,” Doncic said. “I think (tonight) me and coach are going to decide about it.
“It’s been a long time playing basketball — not a lot of breaks. But we’ll see (tonight).”
Here’s what else you need to know about the Rockets’ first visit of the season to American Airlines Center on Wednesday night:
*This is the third game of a five-game homestand for the Mavs. In addition to defeating the Clippers, the Mavs opened this homestand with Saturday’s 117-112 win over Portland. After tonight, the Mavs will close out this homestand with a pair of games against the Denver Nuggets on Friday and Sunday, respectively, before opening a three-game road trip on Nov. 23 in Boston.
*The Mavs are an impressive 7-1 at home this season. It’s the first time they’ve been 7-1 at home after eight games since 2014. The only home loss this season occurred on Oct. 29 when the Mavs unfortunately dropped a 117-111 decision to Oklahoma City in overtime after leading that game by 16 points with 4:14 remaining in regulation play.
*Counting the 35 points he scored against the Clippers, Luka Doncic has now scored 30 or more points in 11 of the Mavs’ 13 games this season. He also contributed 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals against the Clippers. Doncic continues to lead the NBA in scoring at 34.4 ppg.
*Dorian Finney-Smith scored a season-high 21 points while making a career-high seven three-pointers in Tuesday’s game against the Clippers. Finney-Smith had a premonition he was going to have a big night when he discovered the Clippers were going to use center Ivica Zubac to guard him. “I just play off of everybody,” Finney-Smith said. “They were finding me (Tuesday). I came out (and) I saw Zubac was guarding me, and Luka said, ‘Shoot 10 threes.’ So, I was letting them go.”
*Reggie Bullock struggled early Tuesday, but came up big when needed. Bullock drained a season-high four three-pointers and scored a season-high 13 points against the Clippers. Prior to connecting on 4-of-8 from three-point range against the Clippers, Bullock was just 3-of-22 from downtown in the previous six games. And the 13 points he tallied surpassed his previous season high of 10 points he scored on opening day in Phoenix.
*Spencer Dinwiddie is enjoying a breakout season of sorts. After scoring just two points against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 7, Dinwiddie has poured in 98 points over the past four games. In that four-game span he’s averaged 24.5 ppg and 5.8 apg, and shot 53.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
*The Rockets have lost nine of their last 10 games, with the only victory coming when they secured a 114-108 win over the Utah Jazz on Oct. 14. Kevin Porter Jr. finished that game with 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets.
*Houston has lost its past three games. That includes Nov. 9 at Toronto (116-109), last Saturday in New Orleans (119-106), and this past 
Monday at home against the Clippers (122-106).
*Jalen Green has led the Rockets in scoring in each of the last five games with an average of 26.8 ppg. For the season Green leads the Rockets in scoring at 22 ppg, while Porter is averaging 19.2 ppg and 5.6 apg.
HOUSTON ROCKETS (2-12) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (8-5)
When: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: Bally Sports Southwest
Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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