Mavs vs. Nuggets Preview: Will Luka Doncic Play on St. Patrick's Day vs. Nikola Jokic?
The Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets will clash in a battle for playoff positioning on St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, but will two of the NBA's elite players go head-to-head?
Mavs guard Luka Doncic and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic are each in the MVP race, but a hamstring injury to the Dallas star could spoil the matchup. Doncic was out on Thursday due to the injury in the Mavs' 126-119 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Paycom Center and is questionable to play against Denver.
As Luka is arriving at the AAC, Marc Stein is reporting that Dallas is “expecting” him to play.
Doncic is averaging 34.3 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.0 rebounds per game this season. Jokic has had another stellar season as he makes a bid to win the third MVP of his career, averaging 26.0 points, 12.2 rebounds and 9.1 assists.
Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Denver (47-20) has the same record as Oklahoma City (47-20) but is the second seed, as the Thunder won the season series 3-1 and hold the tiebreaker. A win for the Nuggets moves them a half-game ahead of the Thunder.
Dallas is the eighth seed and trails the seventh-seed Sacramento Kings (38-28) by a half-game and sixth-seed Phoenix Suns (39-28) by one game. The Mavs lost their first two meetings of the season against Sacramento, but they face each other two more times before the season concludes. Dallas went 2-1 against Phoenix this season and holds the tiebreaker if they finish with the same record.
Denver enters the St. Patrick's Day matchup on a five-game winning streak, including wins over the Boston Celtics (52-14) and Miami Heat (36-30). The Nuggets also have a chance to sweep the season series against Dallas after winning the first two matchups 125-114 and 130-104.
Dallas has won four of its last five games entering Sunday.
TIME/PLACE: American Airlines Center at 2:30 p.m. CT
RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (38-29), Denver Nuggets (47-20)
SPREAD: Dallas is a 3.5-point underdog.
TV/RADIO: ABC & 97.1 The Freak
INJURY REPORT: Mavs - Questionable: Luka Doncic (hamstring) & Dante Exum (right plantar fascia sprain). Out: Josh Green (right ankle sprain), Brandon Williams (left wrist sprain), Alex Fudge (G-League) and Greg Brown III (G-League).
Nuggets - Out: Vlatko Cancar (torn ACL).
