Mavs' Christian Wood Upgraded to Probable to Play Against Jazz

The Dallas Mavericks may be without one of their top players when they take on the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The Jazz enter the matchup as a challenging matchup with a 6-2 record after many expected a rebuild.

The Mavs added Wood to the injury report on Tuesday — originally listing him as questionable to play Wednesday due to a non-Covid illness. He was later upgraded early on game day to probable. Davis Bertans (right knee effusion) and Frank Ntilikina (right ankle effusion) both remain out.

Had Wood been unable to play, the Mavs have the option of utilizing various options at the center position. JaVale McGee remains the starter, but even with Wood likely to play, McGee's playing time has varied throughout games to start the season and is a subject worth keeping tabs on.

“Strong," Kidd said of his commitment to starting McGee. "When you look at the rotation today, we’ll give him a chance. He’s going to play. He’s going to get into the swing of things, and we believe in him. He’s going to start. You saw tonight we can play DP, and C-Wood, and Maxi. We’ll look at that combination, but we believe in JaVale, and he’ll be better.”

The Mavs found success with Dwight Powell after he began the season not being involved in the rotation. Dallas deployed him in the rotation over the last two games — offering a stabilizing presence on both ends. His involvement in the rotation with Wood being expected to play remains something to monitor.

"(Powell) stabilizes," Kidd said of Powell's impact. "He was good again. After yesterday’s performance, we found time for him to play. He gave us a spark, or whatever you guys want to write, but he was really good. He’s been great in the two games he played. All our bigs – C-Wood [Christian Wood] on-ball was great. We got a lot of bigs. Maxi [Kleber] – they were all good.”

The Jazz frontcourt deploys Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk among others — forcing the defense to respect the outside shooting threat and cover ground in the half-court. When the Mavs deploy McGee, drop coverage could pose challenges for the defense. Wood will need to be ready to defend out in space, too.

Going smaller with Powell or Kleber at times could present the Mavs with helpful personnel to match the Jazz's play style. Regardless, Dallas continues to experiment with different combinations early in the season and Utah will be a good test.

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