The Dallas Mavericks (19-26) continue their four-game road trip with a trip to Oakland to take on the Golden State Warriors (28-17). It will be interesting to see how the Mavericks respond after a heartbreaking loss in their last game against the Portland Trail Blazers. This will be a gut-check game for the Mavericks as they face a tough Warriors squad. It was clearly a devastating loss at the Rose Garden against the Trail Blazers but the Mavericks have to overcome that disappointment and move forward as they continue to push for the 8th seed.
The Mavericks will once again be without the services of Chris Kaman as he’s dealing with a concussion. It is expected that Bernard James will make his third consecutive start for the team.
Here are the notes for the game between the Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors.
Series Notes:
The Mavericks have won 8-of-11 against the Warriors, but Golden State recorded a 105-101 overtime-win in the first meeting between the two teams this season at Dallas on Nov. 19, 2012. With the win in November, the Warriors snapped a four-game road losing streak against the Mavericks. The Mavericks have won four of the last six meetings with the Warriors on
the road.
Dirk Nowitzki averaged a team-high 21.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 31.3 minutes in three starts against the Warriors last season. Nowitzki (right knee surgery) was unavailable for Dallas against Golden State in November. Mavericks guard O.J. Mayo tallied a team-high 27 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 41 minutes in the overtime-loss in November.
It's a Small World:
Vince Carter was a teammate of Warriors forward Richard Jefferson on the New Jersey Nets for three-and-a-half seasons from 2004-08. Carter was originally drafted by Golden State in the first round (fifth overall pick) of the 1998 NBA Draft, but had his draft rights traded with cash to Toronto in exchange for the draft rights to Antawn Jamison (the fourth overall selection in the 1998 NBA Draft). Carter played with Warriors head coach Mark Jackson in Toronto during the 2000-01 season. Jackson was also a teammate of Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle on the New York Knicks in 1987-88. Brandan Wright played for the Warriors from 2007-10.
Three Keys:
1. Contain Stephen Curry. He is a game-time decision with a right ankle sprain but if he does play, the Mavericks have to do whatever they can to contain Curry. He scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help the Warriors take down the Mavericks in overtime in that matchup in November. Curry is one of only three players in the league averaging at least 20 points, six assists and three rebounds, along with LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. Also, he is on pace to become the only player in NBA history to hit above 45 percent of his threes on more than six attempts per game. He is a lethal shooter, to say the least, and the Mavericks must lock in on him.
2. Rebound and defend. The Mavericks will still be short-handed as Chris Kaman deals with his concussion. That makes the presence in the paint a huge priority as they face off against All-Star reserve David Lee. Lee has posted consecutive games of at least 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, numbers that only Kevin Durant has hit in consecutive games this season. In addition, he has seven games of at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, which trails on LeBron James for the most 20/10/5 games in the NBA this year. Lee is the only player in the NBA averaging at least 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
3. See how Vince Carter responds. The news came out yesterday that the Mavericks had a chance to acquire point guard Jose Calderon, but they would have had to let go of Vince Carter in order to have a better chance to acquire him. That should give Carter a boost to his morale. That’s not to say that Carter will remain a Maverick for the remainder of the year. If a better offer comes along the pike, they’ll definitely look at moving Carter. For now, Carter has been a huge positive for the Mavericks. If he continues on that path, it will help the team and will improve his trade value.
Bryan Gutierrez writes about sportsmen. He is a contributing writer for Mavs.com. Bryan also attended Ball So Hard University. You can follow him on Twitter @BallinWithBryan.
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