Mavs' Dorian Finney-Smith & Josh Green On Track to Play vs. Hawks
The Dallas Mavericks returned home after completing a five-game road trip with a 1-4 record. With no shortage of important players sidelined due to a combination of injuries and rest for more than a month, help is finally on the way.
After Tuesday's practice, Mavs coach Jason Kidd updated reporters regarding the return timetables for Josh Green (elbow) and Dorian Finney-Smith (hip). Both players were full participants, suggesting a strong likelihood of returning ahead of Wednesday's nationally televised matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.
"(Green) and (Finney-Smith) participated in practice today," Kidd said. "They did great, so we'll see how they feel tomorrow."
Tim Hardaway Jr. did not participate in practice, suggesting that he will be ruled out for the Mavs' matchup against the Hawks. During the five-game road trip, he suffered a sprained ankle and did not play in Sunday's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Finney-Smith, who last played on Dec. 21, expressed it felt good to participate in practice again after recently being limited to 1-on-1 and 3-on-3 settings. He clarified that he expects to play in the Mavs' upcoming game on Wednesday.
"It felt good today. First time going through a full practice. I've been playing 1-on-1s and 3-on-3s, but it felt good (to participate fully) today, and we'll see how it feels tomorrow. Right now, I feel like I'll be going."
It was challenging for the Mavs to get Green and Finney-Smith back into game action during a lengthy road trip. As many NBA teams prefer, the Mavs like to have players be a full participate in a practice before fully returning to the lineup.
The Mavs' defense has suffered without Finney-Smith and Green out of the lineup, along with Maxi Kleber. The expectations were never going to be high for the Mavs' defense without most of their top defenders available to play. However, their execution grew to be concerning by the time their recent road trip reached its end.
“Right now our defense is struggling,” Kidd said. “We’ve got to give better effort, unless we’re just going to be an offensive team where we’re going to try score 140 every night.”
Giving up a total of 276 points to the Trail Blazers in a two-game span is concerning and each game set a new season-high for opponent points allowed within a game. While results have worsened significantly, it's become part of a larger trend.
On the season, the Mavs now rank 25th in defensive rating (114.7) with only teams like the Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, and San Antonio Spurs producing lesser results. The results have worsened as they have a 117.7 defensive rating (26th) since the start of December.
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