3 Things to know before the Mavericks host the Blazers

If this is anything like the last matchup, we’re in for a wild night

Coming off of an outstanding 113-97 win against the LA Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks (18-10) will play host to the Portland Trail Blazers (9-19). This is the third of a four-game home stand that will take the Mavericks through Christmas at home. For the Blazers, a scintillating 126-124 home win against the Denver Nuggets was followed up with a 114-94 loss in San Antonio against the Spurs.

This is the second meeting of the month between these two teams, with Dallas winning the first one 137-131 back on December 1st. That game was wildly entertaining, as the Blazers shot the proverbial leather off of the basketball, going an insane 18/31 (58.1%) from behind the long line. Dallas was able to stay in front due to their own excellent three-point shooting (18/36) and Luka Doncic’s outstanding play.

Here’s what we’ll be looking for in preparation for this one.

Healing a heel

Luka Doncic has yet to return from his heel contusion that he suffered against the Golden State Warriors, where he dropped a 45-point triple double. As the Mavs gear up for a marquee matchup on Christmas Day against the Minnesota Timberwolves, you’d have to assume that both Luka and the Mavs are trying to get Doncic ready to go for that one. He’s officially been upgraded to questionable for Monday’s game against Portland as of 4:30p on Sunday afternoon, so we’ll see if he tries to give it a go. Either way, this is a great sign of progress towards a potential return in this game or the Christmas Day game.

Elsewhere on the injury front, both Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain) and Brandon Williams (right thumb sprain) join Dante Exum (right wrist surgery) as being listed as ‘OUT’ on the injury report. Exum has been doing more at practice lately, working on his left handed finishes and off the dribble moves. We’re rapidly approaching the calendar flipping to 2025, which means we could see Exum here as early as next month.

Bench mob

After starting the year with some rough performances, the bench of the Mavericks has predictably become the strength that many of us thought that it would be. In the win over the Clips, the Dallas bench provided 46 points, including 20 by Quentin Grimes. Since November 15th, the Mavericks are averaging 39.6 bench points per game, spearheaded by the group of Naji Marshall, Quentin Grimes, Daniel Gafford & Spencer Dinwiddie. At any given point this year, all of these guys have been asked to start and play big minutes to help get them through the injuries and illnesses that have swept through the team. It’s vital for the bench to keep playing at this level to sustain while they work to get Luka back in the fold.

Hello, Klay Thompson

Ye of little faith. Doubting one of the greatest shooters to ever live turned out to be a fool’s errand, as Klay Thompson has been absolutely cooking for about three weeks now. Beyond that, he’s also leading the entire NBA in 4th quarter 3-point field goal percentage, the only player in the league above 50%. There will be ebbs and flows to this, just as there is with any player, but it is safe to say that Klay has fully arrived in Dallas, which is a wonderful thing to see.

How to watch

This game will be a 7:30p tipoff from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The game will be broadcasted locally on KFAA Channel 29. Mavs TV will once again be streaming the broadcast, with their new Mavs TV app that is now available on select devices. The only real change is that you can now stream the Mavericks through their app instead of the NBA’s app. However if you have Roku, Samsung or LG smart TV’s (like myself), then we’re still going through the NBA app as per usual. Check out all the details of the new Mavs TV app here.