Mavericks at Magic
The Dallas Mavericks will continue to play shorthanded while searching for answers on the offensive end when they open up a two-game road trip at the Orlando Magic on Saturday. Star forward Dirk Nowitzki (Achilles) and point guard Deron Williams (calf) have already been ruled out for this contest as they continue to nurse their respective injuries, and the list of physical woes continued to grow this week with word that point guard J.J. Barea would miss six weeks with a leg injury.
The depleted lineup had little to offer in Friday's 80-64 loss at home to Memphis. Nicolas Brussino made a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to allow Dallas to avoid establishing a new franchise low for scoring (62 in 1997), but the struggling squad has matched its worst start since going 2-9 in Nowitzki's rookie season in 1998-99. The Mavericks are now the only team in the NBA with a worse scoring average (91 per game) than the Magic (92.3), who had just enough to outlast the New Orleans Pelicans by an 89-82 margin on Wednesday to begin a stretch for Orlando in which it plays five of six games at home. Serge Ibaka and Evan Fournier led six players in double figures with 16 points apiece for the Magic, who have lost nine of the last 10 home meetings with the Mavericks.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (2-9): Harrison Barnes scored 17 points in Friday's loss but was a factor in the meager offensive attack by shooting 5-of-17, part of a 28.8-percent showing for Dallas. Seth Curry has assumed a share of the starting point guard duties with Barea, Williams and Devin Harris (toe) on the sidelines, and the fourth-year pro is asserting himself a bit more by averaging 11.4 points in a five-game span. Dallas is producing 79.8 points in its four-game slide.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (5-7): Forward Jeff Green was inserted into the starting lineup four games ago to try to provide an offensive spark to the first unit, but the veteran has struggled. He missed all nine of his shots in the win over New Orleans and is 5-of-27 from the floor as a starter this season. Ibaka is averaging 17.7 points and 10 rebounds over the last three games and is scoring nearly 10 points more in wins (19.2) than losses (9.9).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Fournier has scored at least 13 points in 10 consecutive games.
2. Mavericks SG Justin Anderson has missed 14 straight 3-point attempts.
3. Dallas has won 16 of the last 19 encounters.