Monday, 11/18 – Spurs @ Mavericks

What to watch for:

– The Spurs (5-8) come into Dallas in a bad way as losers of five straight games following a 4-1 start to the season. Still led by veteran All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge, coach Gregg Popovich is still finding ways to field competitive teams all these years later, but the clock may be running out on the two-plus decade run for the Spurs.

Matchup of the night: Mavs three point shooting/defending the three

On the surface, it’s easy to just assume the Mavericks should be fine defending the three point line since the Spurs rank 30th in the league in the percentage of their shots coming from beyond the three point line (28% compared to 43% for the Mavs), Dallas simply has not defended the three point line well recently. In their three games last week, the Mavs allowed their opponents to shoot the following percentages from deep: Toronto 42%, New York 43%, and Boston 43%. Meanwhile, Dallas has show just 26%, 22%, and 23% from three in their last three games. The Mavericks aren’t able to just concede that they don’t have many quality shooters like the internet suggests. Somehow, someway, they’ll need to improve their three point shooting with the players they have for the foreseeable future. Defensively, hopefully not needing to defend as many three point attempts from the Spurs on Monday will be a way to jump start the aspect of their team defense.

– Dylan Duell

 

Wednesday, 11/20 – Warriors @ Mavericks

What to watch for:

– The Warriors roster is completely depleted at the moment. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and D’Angelo Russell are all out with injuries and Draymond has been banged up as well. With only 9 active players on their roster, the Warriors currently sit with the worst record in the league at 2-12, which makes this the ultimate trap game. The Mavericks must treat this as the three-time champion Warriors and not overlook this game or they’ll end up with a disappointing loss like the two games against the Knicks.

– Rookie Eric Paschall has shown some flashes for the Warriors with all of the injuries on their roster. He’s been thrown into a starter role for Golden State and has played well. He and Draymond will surely take turns defending Luka and KP throughout the game.

Matchup of the night: Draymond Green vs Luka & KP

You can bet that Draymond will spend time defending both Luka and KP. With that said, we all know Green loves to try and get under the skin of the opponent, specifically his matchup. But with the lack of talent around him on this current Golden State roster, I look for Luka and KP to capitalize in this matchup.

– Michael Mulford

 

Friday, 11/22 – Cavaliers @ Mavericks

What to watch for:

– In the matchup between the two teams on November 3rd, the Mavericks won by 20 points in Cleveland. Luka Doncic gave us what was probably his most impressive triple-doubles yet, with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 15 assists. Just absolutely insane numbers. Let’s see if he can replicate those numbers this time around.

– Rebounding was a big question going into this matchup last time around being that Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson are such good rebounders, but the Mavericks actually outrebounded the Cavs by 10 a few weeks ago, which will certainly be important again on Friday.

Matchup of the night: Kristaps Porzginis vs Kevin Love

This was the matchup of the night last time around and though Love got the better of KP in regard to points, 29 to 18, KP had one more rebound as well as 6 blocks and came away with the victory. Let’s see what this time around brings.

– Michael Mulford

 

Saturday, 11/23 – Mavericks @ Rockets

What to watch for:

– After starting out slow, the Rockets have won seven games straight. They currently rank second in the league, scoring 118.5 points per game. Luckily for the Mavericks, the Rockets also allow 114 points per game, which is what the Mavs currently average. Expect to see a fast-paced, scoring affair in Houston.

– James Harden is currently averaging 39.5 points per game. Yeah, basically a 40 burger every night. Stopping Harden isn’t really a thing; it’s about slowing him down. I’d imagine Finney-Smith will get the assignment of guarding Harden throughout the night.

Matchup of the night: Luka Doncic vs James Harden

It only makes sense. You could argue that Luka’s game resembles Harden’s game more than anyone else. Both can score from anywhere on the floor and are elite playmakers and you can’t forget their signature step-back threes. This should be a fun one.

– Michael Mulford