The Mavericks have been shorthanded in the frontcourt as of late, and that will likely continue for at least another game. According to Christian Clark of The Athletic (Twitter link), Anthony Davis is listed by the team as doubtful for Friday’s matchup against the Grizzlies, while Dereck Lively II will remain out for a sixth straight game.
Davis has missed the Mavs’ past three games after exiting the October 29 matchup against the Pacers in the first quarter. Prior to that, he was averaging 25.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per night, though Dallas was off to a slow start, with a 1-3 record in the full games he played.
Lively has only played three games this season and averaged 5.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. He’s averaging a career-low 17.0 minutes per contest in the early going, despite starting all three games.
The Mavs are currently tied for the worst record in the Western Conference at 2-6.
We have more news on injuries around the league:
- Stephen Curry will miss the Warriors‘ NBA Cup opener on Friday against the Nuggets due to an illness sustained on the team’s recent road trip, reports Anthony Slater for ESPN. Slater writes that Curry began feeling symptomatic heading into the team’s matchup with the Suns on Tuesday, and admitted post-game that he felt drained in the second half. Curry will not travel with the team, but instead will stay in the Bay Area and prepare for Sunday’s game against the Pacers. Draymond Green, who has a rib contusion, is listed as probable, while Jimmy Butler is questionable due to a lower back strain. Kerr said that both players are hopeful to suit up against Denver after sitting out Wednesday in Sacramento.
- Lakers‘ coach JJ Redick says that Austin Reaves is “TBD” for the team’s next game on Saturday against the Hawks, reports Dave McMenamin (via Twitter). The club is being cautious as Reaves looks to return from a groin injury. McMenamin notes that Reaves tested the injury prior to Wednesday’s contest with the Spurs, but the medical staff ultimately decided to keep him sidelined.
- Wizards‘ third-year wing Bilal Coulibaly is listed as out for Friday’s game against the Cavs, notes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Coulibaly, who missed the team’s first four games while recovering from thumb surgery, exited the contest on Wednesday with lower left leg tightness. Robbins adds that Khris Middleton is available to play after missing the previous two games.
- The Nets will be missing Cam Thomas against the Pistons on Friday after he suffered a left hamstring injury, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post (Twitter link). Rookies Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf are also out while on assignment with the team’s G League affiliate, though Drake Powell has been upgraded to questionable from his ankle injury. Terance Mann, who is dealing with left shoulder soreness, is probable to play.
Even now, I still can’t believe Dallas traded Luka for an injury prone AD and zero picks. Cowboys traded away Parsons also. Haha. Something is wrong with the drinking water in Dallas.
I am fine with the Parsons trade. He was holding out, and wanted out. Holdouts shouldn’t be allowed. Play your contract.
Luka…..won’t ever make sense and nothing anyone can say would change that for Dallas’s side. Sure something could happen to Luka (season/career injury), but that’s not something that if did happen, you can point to and say, that’s why he was traded.
Luka is a better player, no comparison. His teammates really seem to like him and fans love him.
The trade was bad, but I can certainly understand not wanting to pay Luka 300 plus million dollars when he refused to get in shape and missed games at all most the same rate as Davis at the time of the trade. I have never seen an out of shape player get so little criticism. It’s not like he was playing 75 plus games a season.
The Nuggets are rounding into form as the chemistry with the new players improves, and they’re undefeated at home. The Warriors’ centers certainly won’t be able to defend Jokic after not being able to defend Drew Eubanks…
Warriors are going to start their road trip in OKC around .500 (best case is probably 6-5 if they can beat the Pacers, or 5-6 if they lose to both the Nuggets and Pacers). Going 3-3 in the trip would be close to a miracle, and then the 1st game back is hosting the Blazers – who continue to show their improvement at 5-3 after beating OKC.
I don’t see the warriors winning tonight without Curry being there. Iniana will be a must win. Why does the schedule maker hate the warriors so much? Another back to back OKC and Spurs. After the 2 games against the spurs itr will get easier.
Its simple with GSW: if Payton, Spencer and Podziemski play less minutes, they will win the game. If Moody, Richard and Kuminga do not play 35-45 MPG in this upcoming game they will lose. Kerr needs to stop playing these horrendous players for no reason, Spencer should have been removed from his contract after the last game and GP2 should be released or traded too. Both those two have zero reason to be in the NBA right now after getting cooked by a terrible Kings team with its two best players missing. Purely awful players who are directly causing GSW to lose. Kerr needs to be fired by now too, but the mob is apparently controlling that decision…
i don’t get why warrior fans love Spencer? He plays no defense. He might have that offense spurt once in a while but his defense cost them. Podz is too much great or bad. Inconsistent and his defense has taken a step back this year. Payton seems to have lost huis defense ability with so many bad fouls. Fouling guys at half court is not what a high IQ player does. Horford has been horrible the last 2 games. Cost them against the Kings going 0 for 9. Those were on open shots. Who needs to play more is Post. Horford needs to be on teh court at the same time as Green to be useful on defense.
I disagree with the general consensus on Horford, to me he has not been anywhere near as bad as Spencer, Payton and Podziemski have been. I wouldn’t put him in that group. He’s really old and is only supposed to be on 15-20 MPG. Keep him in that range and he’s fine. The problem is once again Post and TJD are playing decently-well when they are on the court but Kerr hates bigs still and refuses to play them.
I still dont understand how the starting lineup vs the Kings cooked so hard and then Kerr broke them up when they went up by +15 and then never played those 5 together again. Corruption by Kerr. The Mob runs his rotations. There’s zero reason to play Spencer over Richard for any reason now. Richard can run PG too, his handle and playmaking is fine and he plays defense.