Oakland, CA – Welp, last night didn’t go as planned. With the team having to take on the Golden State Warriors (41-4) on the tail end of a back to back, they needed to make quick and easy work of the Kobe-less Los Angeles Lakers last night. That didn’t happen. The Dallas Mavericks (26-21) stumbled for 48 minutes, and needed this Dirk Nowitzki jumper at the end to win it, which was followed by an amazing display of respect between Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant.
While the Mavericks did hand the Warriors their second loss of the season, they have dropped five straight at Oracle Arena. It is also not clear who will be in action tonight for the Mavericks. Six Mavericks logged over 27 minutes, four of those being starters. Coach Rick Carlisle has rested guys on multiple occasions on the second game of a back to back, so we will have to wait and see what he decides to do.
[UPDATE:] Nowitzki (rest) will sit out tonight, and Pachulia will miss his third straight game. More could follow so STAY TUNED.
One hope is that Zaza Pachulia can return tonight, as he did join his teammates for this road trip, so one could speculate that he could make his return from missing two games with a leg injury. I would have to suspect that Devin Harris will be out tonight nursing that toe injury.
The Warriors, meanwhile, are coming off a dominating performance against the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan sat out, but I doubt he could’ve made up for the 30-point onslaught they suffered at the hands of Stephen Curry and his squad. Curry put up 37 points in just 28 minutes, and never touched the court in the fourth quarter.
“They’re a great team,” backup guard J.J. Barea said with a high level of respect for the Warriors. “We’ve just got to get our rest and see what happens. They’re playing the best basketball I’ve seen in a while right now, so we’ll see what happens.”
Last time these two teams faced off, they were without Curry’s services, and the Mavericks took advantage. They dealt the Warriors their 2nd loss of the season and did it easily winning 114-91.
Lost in the sluggish overall performance by the Mavericks last night was the play of J.J. Barea. After averaging just 3.2 points per game over his previous five games, he burst out of the gates last night with 18 points on 8-17 shooting. He was able to get to the basket at will, which allowed him to feel more comfortable with his mid-range game. If the Mavericks do decide to rest some players tonight, which I’m guessing will be the case, they will need him, along with a few others to step up in a very hostile environment.
I will continue to update as we receive word on any inactives for tonight’s game.
How To Watch:
Game starts at 9:30 CT and will be nationally televised on ESPN and locally on Fox Sports Southwest, as well as 103.3 FM ESPN.
Quote Provided By Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com
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