Nets at Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks will try to bounce back from a tough road loss when they put a four-game home winning streak on the line against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. The Mavericks had won four in a row overall and were tied with the surging Memphis Grizzlies going into the fourth quarter Monday night before falling 98-88.
"I thought we played three tough, solid quarters," coach Rick Carlisle said. "And then the fourth, we had some breakdowns." Dallas has held four of its last five opponents under 100 points and will face a Nets' squad that has reached that mark in 10 consecutive games. D'Angelo Russell led six players in double figures with 20 points in Tuesday's 104-92 win at Miami, giving Brooklyn a 2-2 mark since losing star guard Caris LeVert to a foot injury. After leaving Dallas, the Nets will play 13 of their next 17 games at home.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE NETS (8-10): Russell has scored at least 20 points in three straight games and he is averaging 7.3 assists, five rebounds and 2.7 steals in that span as he does his best to fill the void left behind by LeVert's injury. "I like to consider myself one of the closers of this team," Russell said in a YES postgame interview. "We've got a few but I like to consider myself one of them. We can make it happen any given night." Center Jarrett Allen has also stepped up in the wake of the LeVert injury and has three straight double-doubles, including 13 points and 14 rebounds at Miami.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (7-9): All five starters scored in double figures at Memphis but none of them shot better than 50 percent and injuries limited the bench support. Guard J.J. Barea, who scored in double figures off the bench in each of his previous five games, was out with a groin issue while backup big man Dwight Powell missed his first contest due to a knee problem. Starting guard Wesley Matthews has missed three of the last four games because of a hamstring problem.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets PF Ed Davis has 19 rebounds in 37 minutes off the bench over the last two games and made all four of his shot attempts versus Miami.
2. Mavericks SF Luka Doncic leads his team in scoring (19.2) but is 23-for-65 from the floor in a span of four contests.
3. Brooklyn claimed both meetings last season by single digits.