The Dallas Mavericks are hosting the Houston Rockets on Saturday afternoon, the first home game since Nico Harrison made the shocking decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
It will likely be a hostile crowd, as Mavericks fans were very upset with the trade, but it’s still a talented team when healthy.
Anthony Davis has yet to play for the Mavs since that trade with an abdominal strain. He was listed as questionable before Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics before being ruled out, but he has been upgraded to probable for this matchup against the Rockets.
In his introductory press conference, Davis said he’d play, so we’ll see if that’s the case.
All of the other players on Dallas’ injury report will be out: Dereck Lively II (right ankle stress fracture), Dwight Powell (right hip strain), and Caleb Martin (right hip strain).
Martin’s injury is a little worse than many expected when Dallas traded for him earlier in the week, and while Nico Harrison had the option of voiding the trade, he decided to go through with it anyways.
This does mean that P.J. Washington will be back after missing the last two games for personal reasons, as he and his wife welcomed their new child this week. He’ll be needed to bring some good energy to the crowd.
The Rockets will be without Jabari Smith Jr. (left metacarpal fracture) and Fred VanVleet (right ankle strain), two usual starters for a team that started as one of the best in the West.
Dallas and Houston will tip a little after 2 p.m. CST in the American Airlines Center.