Mavs vs. Heat Preview: Can Struggling Dallas Cool Off Miami?
DALLAS – The Dallas Mavericks look to end a gross three-game losing streak on Friday night at home on national television against the Miami Heat.
Dallas turned the ball over 16 times, including seven turnovers from star Luka Doncic, in Wednesday’s 130-122 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The Mavs could use a strong defensive performance on Friday, as they have given up at least 130 points in their last three losses.
Meanwhile, Miami has won four of its last five games (including two wins over Milwaukee) and has the fourth best defensive rating in the league.
The matchup is highlighted by two of the NBA’s biggest stars in Doncic and Miami’s Jimmy Butler. Doncic earned NBA Western Conference Player of the Month in December for posting the highest-scoring month in franchise history. Butler is also performing at a high level, posting 22 points per game on 51 percent shooting from the field with an impressive two steals per game.
The Mavs will be without Christian Wood, who sustained a fracture of his left thumb during the second quarter of Wednesday’s game against the Hawks. He will be re-evaluated next week. Look for more playing time for Dwight Powell and JaVale McGee in Wood’s absence.
RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (24-22), Miami Heat (25-21)
WHEN: Friday, January 20, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. CT
WHERE: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)
TV: ESPN
RADIO: 97.1 The Freak
ODDS: The Mavs are 1-point underdogs vs. the Heat.
Next Up: The Mavs stay in Dallas to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT. The tip-off time was moved because of the Dallas Cowboys Divisional Round matchup vs. the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT.
FINAL WORD: On Wednesday, Doncic denied pushing the front office to make changes to the current roster:
“Obviously, people who are next to me – who I talk to – they know that [report] is not true,” Doncic said. “I didn’t say anything about that. I talk to Nico [Harrison]. I talk to Fin [Michael Finley] more than I used to. That’s just the way I talk to them. We have great communication [and] that just stays between us.”
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