The Dallas Mavericks don’t know for certain that Chandler Parsons will be healthy enough to play in Game 1 against Houston.
But either way, they expect him to be a focal point in the series, and not just because he will be going against the team for whom he played his first three seasons.
Coach Rick Carlisle said that everything that has gone on to create drama between the Mavericks and Rockets should have little or no bearing on the series — especially the spat between Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban and Houston GM Daryl Morey, who both contend that the other has no idea about the right way to build team chemistry.