Bobcats at Mavericks
THE STORY: The Dallas Mavericks look to remain perfect against the current incarnation of the Charlotte franchise as they host the Bobcats on Thursday. The defending NBA champs snapped a three-game losing skid with a win over Washington on Tuesday and now have a shot at winning consecutive outings for the first time since mid-February. Dallas has won all 14 meetings with Charlotte since the Bobcats joined the NBA in 2004.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Carolinas, Fox Sports Southwest.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS (6-35): The Bobcats couldn't pick up any momentum from a win over New Orleans, getting beat by 20 points Wednesday. That dropped Charlotte to 3-23 away from home this season. It wraps a four-game road trip in Dallas. The Bobcats got 47 points from the bench in the blowout loss, led by Derrick Brown’s 15 points. The starters combined for only 40 points on 15-of-35 shooting. Charlotte is 1-32 when trailing after three quarters.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (24-20): The Mavericks frontcourt is finally healthy with Brendon Haywood and Brandan Wright returning from injury Tuesday. Dallas was terribly thin inside, leaning on seldom-used reserve Ian Mahinmi. It won only once during the five games Haywood sat out with an ankle injury, including a loss to Oklahoma City on March 3 in which Haywood suffered the injury 31 seconds into the game. Dallas was outrebounded in all but one of those games.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Dallas forward Shawn Marion was held out of practice Wednesday with knee soreness. He’s the only Mavericks player to play in every game this season and is day-to-day.
2. Following the Bobcats tilt, the Mavericks play a stretch of 12 straight games against teams with winning records.