Mavericks head to New York to take on struggling Knicks

Preview

NEW YORK – Dallas couldn’t overcome a 28-point home deficit against the Golden State Warriors last time out and looks to get back in the win column as the Mavericks begin a road back-to-back against the New York Knicks on Dec. 16.

The Mavericks (17-8) have alternated wins-losses in their last six games, dropping their third in that span 105-98 to the NBA-best Warriors Saturday. Dallas trailed by 22 points at halftime and went down as much as 28 before rallying in the final quarter to make it a respectable score.

Dallas has had its struggles against the NBA’s best, going 0-6 against the top-8 in the Western Conference. Luckily, the Mavericks are 17-2 in all other games, including 7-0 against all other West teams and 10-2 against the Eastern conference.

Four players scored double figures, led by Monta Ellis’ 24 points while Dirk Nowitzki added 23, but the duo shot 19 for 42 (45 percent) from the field. Tyson Chandler grabbed his 12th double-double with 11 points and 12 boards while Chandler Parsons sat out with a back injury.

Richard Jefferson took his spot in the starting lineup and finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds in 35 minutes. It was his first double-double since the 2010-11 season with the San Antonio Spurs (Parsons has yet to record a double-double this season and has a good chance at returning Tuesday).

The Mavericks allowed three Warriors to score 20 or more points, including Stephen Curry’s game-high 29 points. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green added 25 and 20 points, respectively. The trio made all 10 of the team’s 3-pointers, going 10 for 26 (38 percent). Dallas was -15 from behind the arc, shooting 5 for 25 (20 percent). Jefferson 2 for 4, Ellis 2 for 8 and Devin Harris 1 for 1.

Dallas takes on a New York squad that has lost 21 of its first 26 games. The Knicks (5-21) took the Toronto Raptors to overtime, but fell 95-90 on Sunday. New York trailed 84-79 with 3:35 to play after Kyle Lowry’s two free throws.

More from The Smoking Cuban

• Mavericks: Teammates look to collect debts after Luka Doncic’s extension
• Dallas Mavericks: What Tyson Chandler would bring as a coach
• Dallas Mavericks land Boban Marjanovic on two-year $7 million deal
• Dallas Mavericks struggle, show flashes in summer league loss to Sixers
• Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic signs massive 5-year extension

Carmelo Anthony tied it with a three with 2:54 left before tying it again 86-all with a layup at the 28-second mark. Lowry’s 6-foot jumper at the buzzer was off before the Raptors went up seven with 1:06 left in overtime to drop the Knicks to their 11th loss in 12 games and 3-10 at home this season.

Anthony led with a game-high 34 points on 11 for 24 shooting, including 4 for 9 from downtown and a team-high nine rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 points and six boards, starting for the injured Iman Shumpert (shoulder), who is projected to miss the next three weeks.

These two teams met back on Nov. 26 on ESPN in Dallas. Chandler dominated his former team to a tune of 17 points and NBA-high 25 rebounds in a 109-102 overtime win for Dallas.

More from Mavs News

• Mavericks: Teammates look to collect debts after Luka Doncic’s extension
• Dallas Mavericks: What Tyson Chandler would bring as a coach
• Dallas Mavericks land Boban Marjanovic on two-year $7 million deal
• Dallas Mavericks struggle, show flashes in summer league loss to Sixers
• Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic signs massive 5-year extension

Nowitzki struggled from deep, 1 for 8, but still managed to score a season-high 30 points. Parsons added 13 while Ellis scored eight.

Dallas trailed 24-19 after the first quarter before taking a four-point lead into the break. J.R. Smith hit the game-tying jumper with 0.9 left to send the game to extras, but the Mavericks doubled up the Knicks, 14-7 in overtime.

Tied 99-all with 1:37 to play, the Mavericks went on a 7-0 run in the next 1:25 to put the game away. There were four ties and five lead changes in the fourth/overtime.

Jose Calderon returned to Dallas and made an immediate impact going 7 for 9 from three and finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Knicks, who played without Anthony. Samuel Dalembert also made his return and went for 13 points, 13 boards, two steals and two blocks in 25 minutes.

NOTE: Tyson Chandler makes his return to New York after spending the last three years with the Knicks…He averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds in 183 games…Won the Defensive Player of the Year with New York in 2011-12…Raymond Felton is close to a return and is questionable to make his season debut against his former team…Other injuries for New York include Larkin, Smith and Pablo Prigioni…Chandler had the block of the year against the Warriors, swatting away Marreese Speights’ shoe tossed by Stephen Curry…Monta Ellis is averaging 20.8 points in 12 road games…He scored 22 points in 41 minutes in New York last season…Dirk Nowitzki is averaging 16.4 points in 10 road games…He scored just 15 points last time in New York, but hit the buzzer beater for a Dallas win…The Knicks are 3-10 at home while the Mavericks are 8-4 on the road, including 6-0 on the road vs East…Dallas is 5-0 vs the Atlantic division…New York has the second-worst record in the NBA, 1 1/2 games ahead of the 76ers…Dallas sits in 7th in the West, five games ahead of the Suns for 8th and 3 games back of Memphis in the division…This marks the fourth time this season the Mavericks will have a road back-to-back, going to Detroit Wednesday…Dallas is 6-2 in four back-to-backs, 5-1 on the road…Dirk sits 90 points from Elvin Hayes for 8th all time…Chandler needs 23 rebounds to pass John Havlicek for 67th all time…Dallas is 13-4 vs Knicks since the 2006-07 season, 4-3 since 2011-12.

Tyson shoe swat

Dirk buzzer beater in NY

Nov. 26 OT meeting