Even though they’ve already played twice this season, there won’t be a lot of familiarity between the host San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks when they square off on Monday night.
The teams will play in the first of two games against each other over three nights.
The lack of familiarity will be because a lot has changed since the Spurs and Mavericks met twice in the first three-plus weeks of the season.
San Antonio has a new coach, with Mitch Johnson taking charge on an interim basis as Gregg Popovich recovers from a stroke. The Spurs also have a new star guard in De’Aaron Fox (obtained in a trade with Sacramento) and are without injured center Victor Wembanyama.
The Mavericks will play without guards Luka Doncic (traded to the Los Angeles Lakers) and Kyrie Irving (out for the season with a knee injury).
Monday’s game also will be the second of a back-to-back set for each team. Dallas lost 125-116 at home to Phoenix on Sunday afternoon, while the Spurs fell in Minnesota 141-124 in the evening.
The Mavericks head to San Antonio for the first of a three-game, all-Texas road trip after battling Phoenix with just nine players due to a rash of injuries and salary cap restrictions. Three of those players are on minutes restrictions because of injury management.
Naji Marshall scored a career-high 34 points and Klay Thompson finished with 26 as the Mavericks suffered their fifth consecutive loss on Sunday.
Dallas was forced to finish the game with just seven available players after guard Brandon Williams suffered a hamstring injury. He is not expected to be ready to play against the Spurs, and Dallas has Irving and seven other players on the inactive list who will not be ready to play Monday.
The Mavericks, however, expect to have the mandatory eight players in uniform for the game.
“Never seen this,” Kidd said. “Never been in a game where we could not take someone out to rest them because we had no one to put in. It’s tough. It is what it is, though. You’ve got to keep pushing forward.
“We’ll try to figure it out as we go. We can’t sign anybody (because) me and Duds (assistant coach Jared Dudley) cost too much. You got to laugh because if you don’t, this will drive you crazy.”
Despite the swoon and the injury epidemic, Dallas still is in 10th place in the Western Conference standings. The Mavericks are 1 1/2 games in front of Phoenix for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
The Spurs, meanwhile, will head home for the first contest of a four-game homestand after their loss in Minnesota on Sunday. Fox led San Antonio with 22 points while Stephon Castle had 20 off the bench.
San Antonio has dropped seven of its last 10 as it has fallen to a season-worst 10 games under .500.
“We just have to be ready to go to work and continue to find moments to participate in our own survival and not have self-inflicted mistakes,” Johnson said. “When you’re playing good teams, it’s tough enough without giving them extra possessions or your own miscues.”
Dallas beat the Spurs in the first two meetings of the season, by 11 points on Oct. 24 and by 17 on Nov. 16.
–Field Level Media
