Mavs-Rockets preview: Dončić cleared to play in home stand finale

Jason Kidd likes to make sure all the boxes are checked. So let’s run down a few.

Clinched a spot in the play-in tournament? Check.

MVP candidate? Check.

Team peaking at the right time? Check.

Coach of the year candidate? Check, although folks in Orlando, Boston, Oklahoma City and Minnesota might disagree.

Clinched Southwest Division? Hasn’t happened yet, but a win on Sunday afternoon against the Houston Rockets would give the Mavericks an overwhelming edge in their division as it could put them three games ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans with just four games to play.

It also would give the Mavericks the tiebreaker over the Pelicans via better divisional record.

Perhaps even more delectable is that it would eliminate the Rockets from play-in tournament contention.

That’s a savory incentive.

But the Mavericks have to worry more about their own house than anybody else’s. They’ve won 13 of their last 15 games and you have to go back to the championship season of 2010-11 to find a better run than that.

“Playing your best basketball at this time of year, it gives you a chance to win a championship,” Kidd said. “And that’s what we’re playing for. Now, going through different scenarios in January or December, that’s what a season is for, to find out who you are. That’s what we’ve done. We understand who we are.”

What they are is a team that has kept 10 consecutive opponents at our below 107 points. These days, that’s like the Cowboys’ Doomsday Defense of the ‘70s.

Kidd can’t throw enough compliments in the direction of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, the deadline additions who have beefed up the Mavericks’ defense. And it’s happened pretty quickly, relative to how long it can take to blend in new players.

“Sometimes it just takes some time,” Kidd said. “When you get two players like Gaff and P.J., athletically, and they think about the defensive end, too, having those two start sets the tone for us. And Derrick Jones Jr., he’s done that for us all season. To have those three out there to start puts us in a positive position on the defensive end.”

Who’d have thought that would be the Mavericks’ identity a few months ago?

Here’s a few things to look for Sunday against the Rockets.

• About the only thing that can stop Luka Dončić from vaulting up the MVP ladder is sitting out a game, which he did on Friday against the Golden State Warriors. The Mavericks will regain the services of Dončić against the Rockets as he was cleared Sunday morning to play. He was suffering from right knee soreness. Kidd said that Maxi Kleber will work out before the game before determining his availability to return from back spasms. Dereck Lively II (right knee) and Josh Green (right ankle) both are out.
• The Mavericks will be trying to polish off a 3-0 home stand after wins against Atlanta and Golden State to start it. After Sunday, they will have just one home game remaining in the regular season (Friday against Detroit). They have a quick trip Eastward to play at Charlotte and Miami before that, then will finish the regular season a week from Sunday at Oklahoma City.
• A win gives the Mavericks a 3-1 series win this season against the Rockets. The lone blot so far was the 26-point loss in Houston just before Christmas, which seems like another lifetime ago.
• J. Washington is coming off a huge 32-point night that included the game winning bucket on the Mavericks’ final possession. In the last 10 games (nine of them wins), Washington is averaging 13.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and shooting 40.2 percent from three-point land.
• The Rockets will be without big man Alpe Sengun, who has been sidelined by an ankle sprain. They are led in scoring by Jalen Green at 19.9 points and Fred Van Vleet at 16.7.
• The Mavericks are favored by 7½ points and the over/under is 226.5 points.

 

HOUSTON ROCKETS (38-39) at MAVERICKS (47-30)

• When/where: 2:30 p.m., American Airlines Center, Dallas.
• TV: Bally’s Sports Southwest.
• Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).

 

Western Conference playoff update (after Saturday’s games)

Team (seed)      Record    Games left (H-R)

Denver (1)                   54-24……….1-3

Minnesota (2)            53-24……….3-2

Oklahoma City (3)     52-25……….4-1

LA Clippers (4)          49-28……….4-1

Dallas (5)                   47-30……….2-3

Phoenix (6)                46-31..…….2-3

——————–

New Orleans (7)        45-32……….1-4

LA Lakers (8)            45-33……….2-2

Sacramento (9)         44-33……….3-2

Golden State (10)     42-35…….…3-2

——————–

Houston (11)             38-39………1-4

 

X: @ESefko