With Santa having made all of his early morning rounds, NBA fans still have a few stocking stuffers to enjoy. For Dallas Mavericks fans in particular, Sunday is a very special Christmas day, as the team unveils the statue of Dirk Nowitzki outside the American Airlines Center hours before Luka Doncic and the rest of the crew host the Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James. It’s the Mavs’ first Christmas home game in 11 years.
Although Doncic vs. James is the one-on-one superstar matchup that shouldn’t disappoint, the Mavs and Lakers come into this one with injury-riddled rosters.
The Mavs will be without Josh Green (sprained elbow), Dorian Finney-Smith (sprained adductor), Kemba Walker (recovering from a knee injury) and Maxi Kleber (torn hamstring). Promising 20-year-old rookie Jaden Hardy is questionable with a bruised back.
The Lakers will be without Anthony Davis (foot injury) and Juan Toscano-Anderson (sprained ankle). James is listed as likely with ankle pain following Friday’s 134-130 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Dallas enters Sunday’s game with the ninth-best offensive rating at 113.8, while LA comes in with the 19th-highest defensive rating at 113.1. The Mavs will have plenty of scoring opportunities against the Lakers at AAC… the only question is how much help can Doncic get from his supporting cast?
Over his last four games, Doncic has averaged 31.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 50.6% from the field, including 44.1% deep on 8.5 attempts per game. He’s also shooting 85.7 percent from the free throw line on 8.8 attempts per game. While some may think Friday’s 50-point performance against the Houston Rockets inflates his points per game a bit, it just makes up for Monday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, where Doncic was ejected in the third quarter despite not only had 19 points.
Doncic will likely put on a show with the spotlight directly on him, but Christian Wood may have the best chance of providing him with the most help on Sunday. Wood hasn’t scored more than 15 points in his last three games despite picking things up defensively averaging 2.7 blocks in that span. He looks due for a breakout performance on offense, and the Lakers not having Davis to defend him suggests the breakout could happen over Christmas.
FUN FACT: The last time the Mavs played a home game on Christmas Day was in 2011, when Dallas faced James’ Miami Heat just six months after beating them in the NBA Finals. The Heat, having revenge on their minds, won that game, but the Mavs still raised their championship banner. It’s nice to have Christmas hoops in the Big D.
RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (17-16), Los Angeles Lakers (13-19)
WHEN: Sunday, December 25, 2022 – 1:30 p.m. CT
WHERE: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)
TV: ABC/ESPN
RADIO: 97.1 The Freak, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
ODDS: The Mavs are favorites with an 8.0 point lead over the Lakers
FOLLOWING: Dallas will stay put and face Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks for the second time this season on Tuesday at the AAC. Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. and the rest of the team blew up the Knicks at Madison Square Garden
LAST WORD: “Of course,” said Doncic when asked if he was excited about his Christmas Day matchup against LeBron James’ Lakers. “I mean, it’s the first Christmas game for me at home, so I expect the gym [to be] complete [and] lot of energy. It will be funny.”
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