‘Blessing In Disguise’ Christmas GAMEDAY: Mavs vs. Jazz
The Dallas Mavericks join the NBA's biggest stars to play in one of the five games on Christmas Day, featuring the league’s top teams. The Mavericks travel to Utah to play Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz, who are currently third in Western Conference standings.
Due to an explosion of COVID-19, the Christmas NBA slate will likely be without some of the biggest playmakers; Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Trae Young and Luka Doncic are all in in the league’s health and safety protocols.
Doncic has missed six straight games, after missing the first five while dealing with soreness in his left ankle. The Mavs were without 10 players in Thursday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, including seven Mavs at various stages in the league’s COVID safety protocols.
Safe to say, Dallas’s rotation is extremely thin right now.
The silver lining? The six scrappy replacement players on the Mavericks roster jelled surprisingly well for never having played with one another. The COVID chaos has been an opportunity for a player like Marquese Chriss, a 2016 lottery pick - who against the Bucks had 13 points and five rebounds - to showcase himself.
“It’s a blessing in disguise,” Chriss said of the COVID circumstances. “It sucks that a lot of people are going through it and a lot of people are not being able to play. I know they want to. But I’m taking it one day at a time and make the most out of this opportunity just to show what I’m able to do and that I’m healthy and able to contribute.”
It will mark the first ever Christmas Day meeting between the two franchises and the fifth time Dallas has played on Christmas Day in team history. Will Dallas be able to pull off the upset?
INJURY REPORT: Latest Mavs: Reggie Bullock (health and safety protocols) is out; Trey Burke (health and safety protocols) is out; Willie Cauley-Stein (personal reasons) is out; Luka Dončić (health and safety protocols) is out; Josh Green (health and safety protocols) is out; Tim Hardaway Jr. (health and safety protocols) is out; Maxi Kleber (health and safety protocols) is out; Eugene Omoruyi (right foot surgery) is out; Kristaps Porzingis (right toe soreness) is questionable.
RECORDS: DALLAS MAVERICKS (15-16) at UTAH JAZZ (22-9)
CHRISTMAS RECORD: Mavericks (2-2), Jazz (5-2)
LAST CHRISTMAS GAME: Mavericks lost to Lakers, 138-115, in 2020. Jazz beat Trail Blazers, 117-96, in 2018.
WHEN: Saturday, December 25, 2021 at 9:30 p.m. CT
LOCATION: Vivint Smart Home Arena (Salt Lake City, Utah)
TV/RADIO: ESPN,BSSW, 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL)
ODDS: The Mavs are 12.5-point underdogs vs. the Jazz.
DID YOU KNOW? Mavericks guard Trey Burke played his first three seasons with Utah while garnering First Team All-Rookie honors with the Jazz in 2013-14.
NEXT: Dallas continues a five-game road trip to Portland to play the Trail Blazers on Monday at 9 p.m. CT.
