The Dallas Mavericks (15-13) head on a tough four-game road trip, starting with the West-leading Denver Nuggets (20-9) Tuesday night in Denver.
After a hot stretch, Dallas comes into the game limping both figuratively and literally — Dennis Smith Jr. and J.J. Barea are both nursing injuries (although Barea should return tonight) and the Mavericks lost back-to-back games against the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings. Due to the Kings’ rapid improvement this season, only one of those losses was actually embarrassing.
Dallas starts a gauntlet tonight — not only is this the start of a four-game road trip (where the team has a 2-10 record) but they don’t play another true lottery team until Jan.