After a brief break, we’re back. The Brooklyn Nets have been off for the past few days after beating the New Orleans Pelicans at home on December 6th.
The opponent tonight is in a new era, in more ways
than one. It’s been… a year for the Dallas Mavericks, but maybe things are starting to look up. They beat the Houston Rockets at home on Saturday night and like the Nets, have been off for the past few days.
Where to follow the game
YES Network on TV. WFAN on radio. Gotham Sports on streaming. Tip after 8:30 PM.
Injuries
No Haywood Highsmith or Cam Thomas. Ben Saraf remains with Long Island after Brooklyn called up Nolan Traore and Drake Powell.
No Dante Exum, Kyrie Irving, or Dereck Lively II. Daniel Gafford is doubtful. Rough times for JKidd & co.
The game
So Nico Harrison is finally out of Dallas, and Mavs fans can feel good about the team again. From Gracie Villiard at Mavs Moneyball:
After Harrison was fired, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It felt like it was finally time that I could take back the joy that he stole from me and many of you in watching this team. It brought a lot of the community back together that had been broken following the organization’s dismantling. It had been difficult to enjoy watching this team this season. Being a part of Cooper Flagg’s early NBA journey has been incredible to witness, but I felt an overwhelming sense of dread watching the team, knowing they had no future with Harrison leading the charge…
It is going to be a long process for Dallas to return to any level of true success, but there are things to be hopeful about now that Harrison, who saw himself as the team, is no longer in charge.
Mavs fans now have to hope Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont don’t screw things up any further. That might prove to be an impossible task.
It’s well documented that Anthony Davis hates playing center. His insistence on NOT playing center is one of the reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers were so happy to ship him out in the big trade last year. However, with no Lively II and likely no Gafford, he’s gonna have to stay put at the five. He’s still an amazing basketball player when healthy and has been building some nice chemistry with Cooper Flagg. However, trade rumors are swirling around the big guy once again so who knows where he’ll be going forward. In the meantime, Nic Claxton will look to battle with the Top 75 and future Hall of Famer. Clax has played especially well as of late and he’ll do his best to bother AD and generally frustrate him. Nic has done a pretty good job when it comes to decision making and we’ll see how he goes about working as a hub on offense against Davis.
When you get an opportunity, you’ve got to make the absolute most of it. That’s what Ryan Nembhard is doing now that he’s in the starting five. In six games as starter, he’s averaging around 15 points and seven assists a night on .638/.682/.767 shooting splits. If and when this team gets healthy again, Nembhard has done more than enough to keep his spot in the rotation for Jason Kidd’s club.
Player to watch: Cooper Flagg
It’s always fun to watch a rookie start to put things together. It was a rocky start to begin his pro career, but Cooper Flagg is starting to assert himself more and more. He’s shot at least 45% from the field in six straight games, and you’re starting to see more of what made him a generational prospect coming out of Duke…
This season will be a success for Jason Kidd and company if Flagg continues to play at an All Star level and becomes the leader of this Dallas franchise. So far, so good.
Michael Porter Jr is back and he’s back to getting buckets. He hit for 30+ for the third consecutive game as he tied a season high with 35 points. The great thing about MPJ is he doesn’t need the ball in his hands long to make things happen and has fully gotten comfortable in the flow of things. For the Mavs, they’ll throw a range of defenders on him to keep him away from the rim and into traffic.
From the Vault
We got some incredibly sad news on Thursday as former Net Jason Collins announced that he was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma. On behalf of everyone here, we send our best wishes to the big guy as he manages this illness. Let’s take a trip back in time and revisit some of Jason’s best moments
More reading: Mavs Moneyball, SB Nation NBA, New York Post, New York Daily News, Clutch Points, Nets Wire, Steve’s Newsletter, City of Nets
- Brooklyn Nets Game Notes – Brooklyn Nets
- Dallas Mavericks Game Notes – Dallas Mavericks
- Dallas and Brooklyn meet for cross-conference matchup – AP
- Rookie Nolan Traore promoted to Nets’ big club after strong G-League play – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Michael Porter Jr. hopes to convince Nets he’s worth keeping amid tanking season ($) – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Jason Collins details his battle with ‘one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer’ – Jenna Lemoncelli – New York Post
- Ex-Brooklyn Net Jason Collins battling stage 4 brain cancer ($) – Joseph Wilkinson – New York Daily News
