Mavs Practice Report
The Dallas Mavericks will be the first to tell you that Saturday night’s 93-82 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers was a mirage.
With the Cavs resting LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and eight other key rotation players, the Mavs were still strongly opposed by Cleveland reserves. The full Cavalier lineup will be in action when the two teams meet again on Tuesday night on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, giving Dallas the test of stopping a team expected to contend for the Eastern Conference championship and possibly an NBA title.
“Cleveland is going to have their whole team on Tuesday,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “(Cleveland coach) Mike Brown told me that before the game. We’re hopeful that we have our team, or as many guys that are available. They were tough to beat without those guys (James, O’Neal and the Cavalier supporting cast). So, it’s the kind of test we need.”
Carlisle is merely hopeful that his squad has as many players available for Tuesday’s game because it is the team’s second to last preseason matchup, the game that most coaches decide to play their starters and key reserves extended minutes before resting the final exhibition game in preparation for the season opener. It is a luxury that Carlisle doesn’t know if he will have as Shawn Marion (calf), Josh Howard (ankle) and Tim Thomas (knee) continue to rehab.
“As the preseason goes along and you get down to the last couple of games, normally you start looking at what your rotation is going to be and stretching those guys out to a few more minutes than you had been playing them,” Carlisle said.
“Being mindful of it being a 181-day season, three or four games a week, and I’d like to have everyone playing full-board today. But when that’s not the case, you just have to piece it together. You have to get the guys healthy that have injuries. You just have to work towards getting it all in place.”
(Glenn James/ NBAE via Getty Images)
One guy that will be ready to go regardless of whether he starts or plays just a handful of minutes in the game will be forward Kris Humphries, who has shown a high propensity to score, rebound and take care of the Mavs’ grunt work in the paint.“He’s been pretty steady. I’m greedy, I want him to play better and better. He needs to be an energizer guy for us off the bench. He’s going to give us really quality depth at the big positions,” Carlisle said of the former Minnesota standout.
“You’ve got a handful of guys that shoot the three really well. You’ve got guys that penetrate and distribute the ball. Then you have guys that are going to have to run the floor, dive on the floor, rebound and bring a little extra that sometimes guys that play a lot more minutes have a tougher time doing night in and night out,” Humphries said referring to himself as the ladder.
Humphries said Saturday’s game was a hard game to play, citing the difficultly in game-planning against players for Cleveland that Dallas hasn’t seen before. He does however expect Tuesday night’s matchup to have more of a regular season feel and physicality.
“If you look at this game, there’s not going to be anything that’s the same,” Humphries said comparing the Cleveland lineup from Saturday to the one Dallas expects to see Tuesday. “The intensity. If they play their full rotation of guys, I’m sure we will probably do the same.”
The Mavs and Cavs meet on Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center. The game will air on HD NET at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Mavs then finish the preseason on Oct. 23 in Houston against the rival Rockets, with the game airing on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD at 7:30 p.m.
Dallas tips-off the regular season at home against the Washington Wizards on Oct. 27, and tickets remain available. For ticket information call (214) 747-MAVS.
Dallas has also introduced the “MavsU” program, designed to offer college and university students an opportunity to attend Mavs games at a discounted rate. The Mavericks and Genghis Grill have teamed to offer discounted tickets to students for many upcoming games.
To purchase any MavsU ticket and receive a coupon for a free bowl at Genghis simply call 214-747-MAVS or visit Mavs.com.
Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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