Game Night: Mavs Visit the Knicks at MSG

New York, NY–Tonight is the first of an Eastern Conference back-to-back road trip for the Dallas Mavericks (17-8) as they take on the New York Knicks (5-21). With a win tonight, the Mavs can sweep the season series against the Knicks.

 

December hasn’t been pleasant for this Mavs team, losing three of their last five games (including two losses to two Top-5 West teams). The Knicks are clearly at the bottom of the totem pole in the Eastern Conference led by their Phil Jackson. New York finally snapped a grueling 10-losing streak against Boston on Friday. Their winning ways didn’t last long before conceding defeat in overtime at home versus the Raptors.

 

	Mavericks Projected Starters	Grizzlies Projected Starters
PG	Jameer Nelson 7.7 PPG, 4.4 APG, 2.8 RPG	Jose Calderon 8.6 PPG, 4.2 APG, 3.2 RPG
SG	Monta Ellis 20.7 PPG, 4.5 APG, 2.3 RPG	Tim Hardaway Jr. 9.9 PPG, 1.3 APG, 1.5 RPG
SF	Chandler Parsons 16.3 PPG, 2.3 APG, 5.0 RPG	Carmelo Anthony 23.3 PPGM 3.2 APG, 6.7 RPG
PF	Dirk Nowitzki 19.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 0.5 BPG	Quincy Acy 5.5 PPG, 1.3 APG, 5.1 RPG
C	Tyson Chandler 10.7 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 1.4 BPG	Samuel Dalembert 4.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.4 BPG

 

Keys to the Game:

Tyson Chandler, Tyson Chandler and more Tyson Chandler

Clearly there is a ton of animosity between the Knicks fans and Mavs big man Tyson Chandler. The former Knicks 7-foot-1 center has been criticized for his tenure in New York. Since “coming home” to Dallas, Chandler’s production has been nothing but consistent. In the 109-102 overtime win vs. the Knicks, Chandler finished with 17 points and a season-high 25 rebounds.  Look for Tyson Chandler to make a huge impact tonight being matched up with former Mavs center Sam Dalembert.

 

Defend the Triangle

Besides Lebron James’ return to Cleveland, much of the media attention has been directed towards the Knicks running the triangle offense. Despite the historic success with Phil Jackson executing that offense, the Knicks haven’t displayed any progression at all this season with this complex offense. The Mavs currently rank 9^th worst in opponent points per game. Tonight is a chance for Dallas to fix their defensive woes.

 

#NeverForget

Of course, does anyone remember the last time Dirk played in the historic Madison Square Garden?  Carmelo sure does.

 

Mavs vs Knicks tonight…. remember the last time Dirk was in MSG………. http://t.co/Fije6v0gCj

— BBB Huie (@Terence_Huie) December 16, 2014

 

 

 

Tipoff is at 7pm CT. GO MAVS!

 

Photo Credit: Tom Fox/Dallas Morning News