Mavericks start longest road trip of season so far against Miami Heat

The Dallas Mavericks have played 13 of their 18 games at home to start the year, and they have not started the season strongly. They're now about to go on a four-game road trip that starts in Miami against the Heat on Monday, but then their next game isn't until Friday against Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Depending on how you felt about Miami coming into the season, they're one of the better, surprising teams, entering this game with an 11-6 record. However, they were on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night, and now have to fly back home to face the Mavericks on a back-to-back.

The impressive part about the Heat's record is that they've done this with All-Star Tyler Herro, but he's expected to make his season debut on Monday night. Norman Powell has been able to carry the load, as he had 32 points on Sunday, and is now averaging over 25 PPG. Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez look great, Bam Adebayo is opening up the offense with efficient shooting, and Kel'El Ware is averaging a double-double.

Nov 23, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) reacts against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

In total, the Heat have eight different players averaging double-figure scoring, and they've been able to do that without Tyler Herro. Now that he's expected back in the lineup, there's no telling what this offense could look like.

The Heat are also playing this well on offense while having the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA. But the biggest thing on offense is that they're playing LIGHTNING fast. They're averaging over 106 possessions per game, which is by far the most in the NBA. That's more than two possessions ahead of the Chicago Bulls in second place.

Dallas is coming off a 112-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, and the only thing interesting about the game was Klay Thompson's ongoing beef with Ja Morant, and Morant didn't even play in the game. It was a physical contest, with Santi Aldama getting called for a flagrant foul by tripping Cooper Flagg, which started a lot of chatter from Klay Thompson. That bled over into a tie-up between Thompson and Vince Williams Jr., and then Morant called Thompson a "bum" after a game in which Klay had a season-high 22 points.