Mavericks vs Pelicans Preview, Injury Update, and Game Thread: On the road again

Dallas is back on the road against Denver

The Dallas Mavericks (8-7) are in Colorado again to play the Denver Nuggets (8-5). This game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN at 9:00 pm CST. Despite not having Luka Doncic, Dallas still has a good chance against a tough Nuggets team. Dallas is riding a three-game win streak while the Nuggets just played the Memphis Grizzlies twice and split the games, winning the most recent one. Here are the main things you need to know:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets
• WHAT: Hopefully beating up on a bad Pelicans team
• WHERE: American Airlines Center, Dallas Texas
• WHEN: 8:00 p.m. CST
• HOW: ESPN, Channel 29, MavsTV, and also Playback with Kirk, Matthew, and David

Luka Doncic is back out on the injury front, though he’s missing games with a wrist injury this time. Dante Exum is still missing time recovering from his surgery. Everyone else is available for the Mavericks. The Nuggets report is longer. Nikola Jokic is questionable with personal reasons and I have a feeling he’s going to miss tonight’s game as well. Aaron Gordon, one of the league’s best defenders, is out with a calf strain still. Vlatko Cancar is missing the game with a knee injury.

The Dallas schedule gets pretty soft after this contest, so notching a win against a very good Nuggets team would be awesome. Here’s a longer preview if you need reading material. This week’s power rankings are here if you missed them. David did a good post on grading the recent Dallas performances. There’s this great explainer of the NBA Cup situation. Lastly, there’s this week’s Mette column. I’m not going to even tease it because you should always read her!

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 around 11:45 pm. Thanks so much for spending time with us here at Mavs Moneyball. Let’s go Mavs!