- Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle has suggested that starting center Kristaps Porzingis could be close to his return for Dallas, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Carlisle indicated that Porzingis could return approximately a week from now “if all things continue to go well.”
7:39pm: Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson are the players under quarantine, Charania tweets.
5:11pm: A Mavericks player has tested positive for the coronavirus and two other players have been placed under quarantine for seven days due to contract tracing, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
A source within the organization confirmed Charania’s report, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News tweets.
The other two players have thus far tested negative and are expected to remain so, according to Charania, but the trio remained in Denver while the rest of the team flew back to Dallas. The Mavericks wrapped up a three-game trip in Denver on Thursday.
The names of the players haven’t been revealed but there will be more clarity when the team issues an injury report prior to its next game. The Mavericks have a home game against Orlando on Saturday.
In recent days, the Celtics and Sixers have revealed COVID-19 issues. Boston’s Robert Williams had a positive test and two others were deemed close contacts. Philadelphia is expected to be without numerous players due to contact tracing after Seth Curry tested positive.
Mavericks forward James Johnson and Hornets forwards Cody Martin and Caleb Martin have been fined for their roles in an on-court altercation on Wednesday, according to an NBA press release.
Johnson, who was ejected, was fined $40K for deliberately pushing Cody Martin out of bounds, aggressively confronting him, and initiating the incident. Cody, who was also ejected, was fined $25K for pushing Johnson in retaliation and making contact with a game official. Caleb Martin was fined $20K for entering the altercation and making contact with a game official.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- The NBA is planning to require players and many team staffers to wear sensor devices during all team-organized activities outside of games starting January 7, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. The plan is aimed on improving its contact tracing program. Players and specific staff members, such as coaches, will be required to wear Kinexon SafeZone contact sensor devices on the team plane, the team bus, during practices and while traveling to and from the arena or their home practice facility.
- The league is placing more responsibility on team officials to monitor and mete out discipline for COVID-19 protocol violations among players and staff, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The NBA told teams that they’re required to notify the league office of any discipline imposed. The league office still holds the power to override team decisions on player punishments.
- Maccabi Tel Aviv has extended the contract of former NBA big man Dragan Bender for the remainder of the season, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando writes. Bender signed with the Israeli team in September. Bender played seven games with the Bucks last season before being waived in February. He joined the Warriors on a pair of 10-day deals and averaged 9.0 PPG and 5.9 RPG in nine games before the hiatus began.
- Mavericks guard Josh Richardson patterned his game after Jimmy Butler and can’t believe he was involved in the trade that brought Butler to Miami, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “I really like Jimmy Butler a lot. Especially when he was rising in Chicago, I was a big fan,” Richardson said. “… And it was crazy like actually being in a Jimmy Butler trade. It was kind of like surreal, because he was one of my favorite players and I was getting traded for him. And that was like a really interesting thing for me.”
- Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic is hoping to get out of a bumpy offensive start to his third NBA season, according to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. He had one of worst scoring performances as a pro on Wednesday, scoring just 12 points against the Hornets in a 118-99 loss. “Obviously I’ve got to do way better,” Doncic said. “I can still prove so much, so I’ve got to work on those shots every day and if you work on it, they’re going to fall in eventually, so that’s my point of view.” Doncic has gone cold from long distance this season, connecting on just 9.5% of his 5.3 three-point attempts a night.
- One of Josh Richardson‘s agents, Bill Duffy, tells Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News that his client’s fit in Philadelphia last season was “awkward” and that he and fellow agent Erik Kabe asked the Sixers about exploring trade options this offseason. “Josh has an opt-out after this year,” Duffy said. “So Erik and I were pretty candid with Philly that it was pretty unlikely he’d return, ‘so maybe you should have discussions.'” The Mavericks were Richardson’s preferred landing spot, and Dallas and Philadelphia were able to work out a deal that Duffy views as a “win-win.”
Mavericks reserve point guard Trey Burke has dealt with a variety of ups and downs in 2020, writes Dwain Price of Mavericks.com. Burke’s year had an ignominious start when the Sixers waived him before the coronavirus pandemic caused a 2019/20 season pause.
Burke was then dealt a blow when he contracted the COVID-19 before the 2019/20 NBA season restart. “Everyone knows about the corona situation – me coming down with corona and getting through that and getting to Orlando and helping the team produce,” Burke said. His subsequent performance in the Orlando restart for the Mavericks earned him a three-year, $9.45MM deal in the 2020 offseason.
- Center Kristaps Porzingis took part in his first full-contact Mavericks team practice since an October right knee lateral meniscus surgery, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Head coach Rick Carlisle expects that Porzingis will likely return to the court for Dallas in January. “Sometime in the next couple of weeks isn’t far-fetched,” Carlisle said.
- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is excited to have center/power forward Dwight Powell available again after he underwent Achilles tendon surgery in January, tweets Dwain Price of Mavs.com. Powell played a combined 41 minutes in Dallas’ first two games. “I just know that for a 6’10” guy that went through that situation he’s done a remarkable job with rehab and all those kinds of things,” Carlisle said. “He’s an amazing guy.”
- Mavericks big man Willie Cauley-Stein could see an uptick in minutes as Dwight Powell is eased back into the rotation from an Achilles injury, according to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. Cauley-Stein played well in a six-minute stint during the team’s opener. Cauley-Stein signed a two-year, $8.2MM contract with a team option at the beginning of the month.
- Off-season acquisitions Josh Richardson and James Johnson were identified as two players that would fit well with Mavericks star Luka Doncic, Caplan writes in a separate story. Richardson filled a need for a 3-and-D wing player who could also handle the ball while Johnson provides a measure of toughness.
When the 2019/20 NBA season ended in October, it didn’t seem likely that we’d see another NBA game played until some time in the new year, perhaps even as late as February or March. But the league accelerated its plans for the 2020/21 regular season in the fall, ensuring that an annual tradition was preserved: the five-game Christmas Day slate.
Today’s schedule is as follows:
- New Orleans Pelicans at Miami Heat (11:00am central time)
- Golden State Warriors at Milwaukee Bucks (1:30pm CT)
- Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics (4:00pm CT)
- Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers (7:00pm CT)
- Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets (9:30pm CT)
A couple of these matchups look even more tantalizing today than they did a week ago. The Pelicans, for instance, looked awfully impressive in their opening-night game against Toronto on Wednesday and will be going up against the defending Eastern champion Heat, who are hungry for their first win of the season.
A Stephen Curry/Giannis Antetokounmpo showdown between the Warriors and Bucks will be followed by a matchup of two potential Eastern Conference contenders who looked great on opening night, the Nets and Celtics.
Luka Doncic and the Mavericks and LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers will all be looking for their first win of the season in the evening.
And the night is capped off with a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Semifinals, with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and the Clippers visiting Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the Nuggets.
Which game are you most looking forward to watch today? Which five teams are you picking to win the Christmas Day games? Use the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts and make your predictions!