Dallas Mavericks look to down short-handed Golden State Warriors

The Dallas Mavericks go into Saturday’s matchup with the defending champion Golden State Warriors in search of their fifth win in six games.

Coming off of their best performance of the season, the Dallas Mavericks will try to keep their hot streak going against a beaten up and distracted Warriors team. Stephen Curry (groin injury) and Draymond Green (toe sprain) will not be available Saturday placing a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to carry the load.

The Dallas Mavericks will be without Wesley Matthews after he re-aggravated his injured hamstring against the Utah Jazz. Dorian Finney-Smith will likely step into the starting role once again, a spot he has thrived in this season.

The Mavericks will rely heavily on Luka Doncic—as they have all year—to keep the starting offense running smoothly. The starters have had their fair share of struggles this season, but played excellent last game.

Harrison Barnes is starting to find his groove and the team will definitely need his production tonight. In his last five games, Barnes is averaging over 17 points and 5 rebounds per game. In his first five games of the season, Barnes was posting under 15 points and just 4 rebounds per game.

It has been a slow process for Barnes, recovering from a hamstring issue that sidelined him for the preseason and the beginning of the regular season, but he is starting to look like the Barnes of the last two seasons again.

While Barnes recent improvement has been encouraging, DeAndre Jordan’s recent drop-off in play has hurt the team. Against the Jazz, Jordan stood out as the player who struggled the most in a dominating Mavericks performance.

The good thing for Jordan is that he has still been able to dominate the glass against most teams. Even so, his rebounding numbers have dipped over time just as every other facet of his game has.

In the first seven games, Jordan was posting averages of 14.3 PPG, 15.3 RPG, 3.0 APG and 1.7 BLK. His defense wasn’t as advertised but it was passable for a few games. His last seven games have not gone so well. Jordan has been averaging 7.0 PPG, 11.6 RPG, only 0.7 BLK, and more turnovers (2.7) than assists (2.0).

The worst part of all of this is that the effort just hasn’t appeared to be there during many stretches of the season. He hasn’t rolled to the basket as hard as he did to start the season. He often takes his time getting back on defense—leading to transition baskets for the opponent. Worst of all, he has been horrible as a help defender and rarely slides over to contest shots at the rim.

Jordan will be playing against a team that is thin at center and should be a favorable matchup for him. This game would be a great opportunity for him to bounce back and show Dallas fans why they were so excited to sign him in the first place.

If the Mavericks can get the sort of play that they have recently from Barnes and Luka, and they can get a rejuvenated DeAndre Jordan performance, then they should have a good chance at beating an under-manned Golden State Warriors team.