The Dallas Mavericks’ (35-37) four-game east coast road swing continues Tuesday as they face the New York Knicks (44-26) at Madison Square Garden for a 6:30pm CST tip. Dallas rides its first winning streak in over a month into this game, having beat the Nets 120-101 Monday after winning Friday against Detroit, 123-117. The game featured the return of center Anthony Davis, who buoyed team morale with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and strong play down the stretch./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73982852/2186560980.0.jpg)
The Knicks beat the Wizards 122-103 Saturday in their most recent action, bringing their record to a water-treading 4-4 since Jalen Brunson’s March 6 ankle injury. That setback occurred during a relatively soft stretch of their schedule, which makes their road losses to the tanking Spurs and Hornets on consecutive nights last week that much more confounding. New York holds a three-game lead on surging Indiana for the third seed in the Eastern Conference with ten games remaining in the regular season, and are hoping Brunson returns in time for the playoffs.
Big shoes
While the Mavericks have used a short rotation lately due to lack of player availability, the practice is a longtime habit for Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who usually entrusts his starters and a handful of reserves with the majority of the floor time. Saturday’s game against the Wizards marked a break in that pattern as point guard Miles McBride sat out with a groin injury and the Knicks’ comfortable early lead allowed Thibodeau to experiment with Cameron Payne, who often plays off-ball, getting his second start of the season and rookie Tyler Kolek logging a season-high 18 minutes.
Brunson’s absence has left the Knicks with a lot of offense to make up for, with several players picking up the load. McBride started the first 7 games, matching increased playing time with increased production by going 18-45 from deep over that span. Meanwhile, wing Mikal Bridges has pitched in with scoring help, averaging 21.8 points since March 6, four points more than his season average. Bridges has been especially hot from deep, sinking the game-winner in overtime March 12 against Portland, and his back-to-back-to-back triples in the third quarter against the Heat March 17 helped the Knicks create some separation in a game they spent most of the first half trailing.
The Mavericks’ point guards Spencer Dinwiddie and Brandon Williams have had their own success scoring the ball lately, as Dinwiddie shot a combined 16-of-22 from the field in the pair of wins, while Williams has made the most of his playing time with 16.9 points per game over his last eight appearances.
Bigger shoes
Karl-Anthony Towns caught a lot of grief from Dallas fans in 2021 after declaring himself the best shooting big man of all time, but he is pretty good, shooting a career-high .425 from beyond the arc on nearly five attempts this season. Towns’ shooting often obscures how good he is near the basket, a punishing finisher through contact who also makes his foul shots. The Knicks pass well and often inside the paint, with handoffs and pocket passes off late cuts, and on all three facets of that—screening, passing, or scoring—Towns excels. Reserve center Mitchell Robinson, the longest-tenured Knick and anchor of the team’s paint defense, has been working his way back from a serious ankle injury that kept him out of action until Feb. 28.
How the Mavericks counter the Knicks will have to be done without Davis, who was on a strict minutes restriction while playing the night before this game and will sit. Against Brooklyn, the majority of the Mavs’ center minutes went to springy Kai Jones, who continued to be a pleasant surprise, leading and finishing fast breaks. Kessler Edwards, the Mavericks’ other non-Dwight Powell center, has one game of eligibility remaining this season and was held out Monday.
Wing stop
New York does most of its best work on the offensive side, but has several versatile defenders in Bridges and forwards Josh Hart and OG Anunoby. If the Mavericks aren’t careful with the ball, you can expect to see Anunoby either causing the turnover or out in front of the break. Hart, the NBA’s leader in minutes per game, has filled the box score in many ways while his shooting touch has been streaky of late. He notched a triple double against Miami and has double-figure boards in three of the last six games. To stay competitive, the Mavericks will likely need more from Klay Thompson, who finally got going in the fourth quarter after a 1-7 start from the field against the Nets, and more of the same from Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington, who paced the club with 22 and 16.
