With the standing of Luka Dončić up within the air for Sunday’s matinee assembly with the Denver Nuggets, the Mavericks are dealing with the potential of once more having to patch collectively sufficient offensive manufacturing to make up for the celebrity level guard.
Tim Hardaway Jr. is among the Mavericks who might be leaned on to choose up the slack – no matter whether or not Luka is out or not – simply as he did Thursday at Oklahoma Metropolis with 23 factors.
Dončić missed that recreation with left hamstring soreness and he’s listed as questionable for Sunday’s 2:30 date with Denver, though he did undergo follow on Saturday.
Josh Inexperienced (proper ankle sprain) is out and Dante Exum, proper plantar fascia sprain is questionable.
Hardaway on Saturday mentioned he’s making an attempt to not soar the gun on declaring his droop over. And to be truthful, the eight video games after the All-Star break weren’t horrible. His 29.8 p.c capturing from three-point land in that stretch was not good. However it wasn’t disastrous, both.
It simply wasn’t as much as his traditional requirements. And within the 4 video games since, he’s hit 10-of-25 from past the arc (40 p.c).
“Adversity hits, you attempt to come out of it,” Hardaway mentioned. “I’m not making an attempt to jinx myself. I need to put a pair video games collectively first.
“It (his strategy) doesn’t change. If it modified, I wouldn’t have been on the market capturing pictures. I’d have simply been on the market passing the ball, passing up open seems, not making an attempt to be aggressive. So nothing modified from that standpoint. It’s simply that pictures had been getting in. My teammates all the time had confidence in me, ever since I’ve been right here.”
Hardaway hit 5 of 9 three-pointers on Thursday. It was the second time in 4 video games he’s made at the least half of his lengthy balls. And he took 17 three-pointers in these video games.
And there’s no doubt {that a} hot-shooting Hardaway will make an enormous distinction for the Mavericks as they battle it out with Sacramento, Phoenix, Golden State and the Los Angeles Lakers for positioning within the play-in match – plus the still-realistic objective of shifting into the highest six and avoiding the play-in altogether.
Hardaway is aware of the trail to hitting that sizzle.
“Simply proceed taking good pictures, not forcing the difficulty, however if you do have a chance to be aggressive, take it,” he mentioned. “Simply be assured and protracted in no matter you’re doing on the ground.”
Hardaway, by the best way, had his College of Michigan shorts on throughout follow on Saturday. He mentioned he was saddened by the firing of Juwan Howard because the Wolverines’ coach.
“It was a tough spot for Juwan – individuals not going to the college, recruits not going to the college,” Hardaway mentioned. “The whole lot unhealthy that would have occurred, occurred. So it was a troublesome state of affairs for him. He did one of the best he might whereas being there.”
Right here’s what else to look at for when the Nuggets go to on Sunday.
- Nikola Jokic in all probability is the MVP favourite. His numbers are excellent (26 factors, 12.2 rebounds, 9.1 assists). Whereas Luka, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo are also within the hunt, it seems to be Jokic’s award – for now.
- When requested about what he sees when he seems on the Nuggets, Hardaway mentioned: “Unselfish ballclub. That’s all that must be mentioned. They’re unselfish, they play the precise method. They defend. It’s all about profitable.” Certainly, all of that’s true. The Nuggets are third within the league in assists per recreation and so they additionally rank within the high 10 in each complete offensive and defensive score.
- Jamal Murray (20.9 factors per recreation), Michael Porter Jr. (16.7) and Aaron Gordon (13.8) all present succesful help behind Jokic.
- The Nuggets have received 5 video games in a row, together with the primary two on this four-game journey that concludes in Minnesota on Tuesday.
- The Mavericks noticed their four-game win streak snapped Thursday in Oklahoma Metropolis in one of the crucial aggressive video games of the season. Kyrie Irving had 36 factors within the loss.
- Daniel Gafford noticed his streak of 33 consecutive subject targets made finish within the early moments of Thursday’s recreation, however he’s nonetheless been on a splendid roll, averaging 15.7 factors and eight.7 rebounds whereas capturing an incredible 93.2 p.c during the last six video games.
- The Nuggets are favored by 3 1/2 factors and the over/underneath is 226.5.
DENVER NUGGETS (47-20) at MAVERICKS (38-29)
- When/the place: 2:30 p.m., American Airways Middle, Dallas.
- TV: ABC (Channel 8).
- Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).
X: @ESefko