After a long rollercoaster of a season, the end is finally here. The Dallas Mavericks (32-48) will face the Denver Nuggets (38-42) in its home finale Tuesday night at AAC before traveling to Memphis to end the season on Wednesday night against the Grizzlies. In a game that both teams don’t really have anything to play for other than pride, the Mavs took this as an opportunity to honor recently retired, Dallas Cowboys great, Tony Romo.

 

Although Romo won’t actually play Tuesday night’s game, he will be in uniform, participating in warmups and sitting on the bench throughout the night. There are mixed emotions (especially from salty Houston Texans fans) on how the Mavs chose to honor Romo, but I for one think its awesome. Good for the Mavs for giving DFW fans another reason to fill the house for the home finale. 

 

The Nuggets are coming off a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder that knocked them out of playoff contention. More specifically, Russell Westbrook knocked them out with 50 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and one dramatic buzzer beater from near half court. Who knows how the Nuggets will respond. Although they don’t have anything to play for now, you can’t underestimate a team’s pride. A night after being eliminated from playoff contention, the Mavs went on the road and beat a good Milwaukee Bucks team 109-105. It’ll be interesting to see how Denver approaches this one. Although the Mavs are our main focus, you’ve got to see how Russ single-handedly eliminated the Nuggets:

 

50 points
16 rebounds
10 assists
1 game-winner #BrodieSZN pic.twitter.com/5wQ47mHlWl

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 9, 2017

 

As for the Mavs, they are in full tank-mode, whether they choose to admit it or not. They have lost 8 of their last 9 games. Yes, they’re playing hard every night, but Rick Carlisle has opted to rest players down the stretch. This is a win-win (no pun intended) situation for the Mavs, as their young guys are getting a ton of extra experience, while each loss increases Dallas’ odds of landing a better draft pick. The Mavs are currently projected to pick 9th in the draft, but they only sit 1 game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings. With each team having 2 games remaining, it’s possible Dallas could be in that 7th spot by the time the season ends. Even if the Mavs pick 9th, they’re almost guaranteed to get a gem in this year’s loaded class. The most recent Mock Draft from Draft Express is projecting Dennis Smith Jr. (freshman NC State star guard) to fall to the Mavs. After watching this video, you’ll understand why Smith has drawn comparisons to Russell Westbrook:

 

 

I realize I didn’t say much about the actual game being played in AAC, but that’s only because it’s been a really long season, and I’m tired of losing. I’m really looking forward to what I hope is an awesome offseason for the Mavs. There are so many possibilities for Dallas, whether it be through the NBA Draft, Free Agency or trades, and this game against the Nuggets gets us one step closer to finding out what’s going to happen. Anyway, I hope everyone has a blast watching Romo in warmups, and I hope Dirk tomahawk-dunks on Nikola Jokic. 

 

How to Watch:

 

The Mavs and Nuggets tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT and can be watched on FSSW and NBA League Pass.