Mavericks vs Kings Preview and Injury Report: Every game counts

A battle for the play-in

The Dallas Mavericks (32-29) host the Sacramento Kings (31-28) at home on Monday night. It’s a battle of play-in teams as both teams are 17.5 games back and effectively tied for the 9th seed (Dallas has played on more game this season). The Mavericks are coming off a whupping by the Milwaukee Bucks in what’s been a struggle of a start following the All-Star break. The Kings have won three straight, including a good win over the Houston Rockets. Here’s the main things to know:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs Sacramento Kings
• WHAT: Trying to work out of the play-in area
• WHERE: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
• WHEN: 7:30 pm CST
• HOW: KFAA, MavsTV, and Playback with Kirk, Matthew, and David

The Dallas Mavericks injury report remains so bleak it’s comical. All of the Dallas players who are on the taller side are out but Dwight Powell. Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, and Caleb Martin are out with their respective injuries. PJ Washington is out with an ankle sprain/issue that forced him to leave last game and has been an issue since before the All Star break. The Kings will be without star big man Domantas Sabonis, who has a ham string strain.

The Mavericks have to find new and different ways to dig deep. This game is really important for the play-in seeding (or the 6th seed if you’re super bullish). Dallas hasn’t won but a single game post All-Star break, so notching one tonight would be valuable down the road.

As you can tell below, you can join me and some other Mavs Moneyball guys in a room on Playback (embedded below) during the game (though I may not be able to start it until halftime). Also, consider joining Josh and I on Pod Maverick live after the game on YouTube, we should start after the game. Thanks so much for spending time with us here at Mavs Moneyball. Let’s go Mavs!