Nets at Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks have dropped three of their last four games but are about to enter a friendlier stretch of schedule. The Mavericks will begin a run with four of the next five games at home by hosting the lowly Brooklyn Nets on Friday.
Dallas’ lone win in the last four games was a 92-90 triumph at the Western Conference-worst Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, and the team followed that up by getting crushed at the Golden State Warriors 127-107 the next night. Dirk Nowitzki sat out the second night of the back-to-back to rest but should be ready to return on Friday. The Nets have dropped six of their last seven and 11 of the last 13 as they struggle to put together any forward momentum. Brooklyn secured one of its most impressive wins of the season by turning aside the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday but let the depleted Miami Heat shoot 54.2 percent from the floor in a 102-98 loss on Tuesday.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE NETS (12-34): Brooklyn elected to buy disappointing point guard Deron Williams out of his contract over the summer, allowing him to sign with the Mavericks. The Nets gave Jarrett Jack the first crack at replacing Williams on the first unit but lost him for the remainder of the season due to knee surgery and are now splitting point guard duties between journeyman Donald Sloan and inconsistent youngster Shane Larkin. Sloan totaled four assists and four turnovers in the last two games while Larkin has gone seven straight without scoring in double figures.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (26-22): Williams is settling in nicely with his new club and is making his first appearance against his former team after sitting out Dallas’ game at Brooklyn on Dec. 23. The 31-year-old briefly kept the Mavericks in the game with a pair of 3-pointers in a third-quarter barrage on Wednesday but finished with 12 points and three assists in the setback. Williams is getting plenty of help from Chandler Parsons, who is averaging 25.4 points on 58.7 percent shooting in the last five games, including 18-of-30 from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks C Zaza Pachulia (leg) missed the last three games and is day-to-day.
2. Nets G Bojan Bogdanovic will represent the World Team at the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star weekend.
3. Dallas took the Dec. 23 meeting 119-118 in overtime but Brooklyn has taken four of the last six meetings.