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Highlights Video :
Two of basketball's more underachieving teams will face off in Dallas on Wednesday night.
Derrick Rose proclaimed his New York Knicks as basketball's next "super team" this past summer. Well, the Knickerbockers have been everything but that this season. New York sits at 20-26 and out of the playoff picture with the All-Star break quickly approaching. The future of the team is very much up in the air with rumors swirling around Carmelo Anthony's trade availability. The Cavaliers are a popular team amidst those rumors, but only time will tell how Melo's situation will play out.
As for the team itself, they're coming off a nice road win at Banker's Life Fieldhouse over the Pacers, 109-103 on Monday night. Anthony and Rose combined for 46 points to solidify the victory for the Knicks. It was nice to see New York get a competitive road win over a decent East opponent.
New York will face off with the Mavericks on Wednesday, who, even with the acquistions of former Warriors Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, have not lived up to expectations. Dallas possesses some nice young core pieces, but too many old players to really contend with the roster that they currently possess. Nine different Mavericks players have started at least five games in 2016/17. That is not a recipe for sustained success.
Dallas has been terrible on offense this season - averaging just 96.6 points per game, which is the worst in the NBA. The Mavericks have six players that play significant minutes that are over the age of 30. In today's younger, stronger and faster NBA, those minutes are only going to wear on the veterans' legs. Even with such an old roster, the Mavericks were able to embarass the Lakers in their last outing. The 122-73 beatdown was one of only a few highlights for the Mavericks on their way to a 15-29 record so far this year.
Keys to the Game
New York Knicks
- Keep the young guys involved: Mindaugus Kuzminskas, Justin Holiday and Willy Hernangomez have each averaged over six points per contest this month. That will only help the Knicks down the line.
- Play some defense: New York currently ranks as 25th in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing just over 108 points per game. Going up against a struggling Mavs offense, their focus should be on getting some positive defensive momentum going.
Dallas Mavericks
- Role players stepping up: Wesley Matthews, Andrew Bogut and J.J. Barea are all banged up in some fashion, so the bench guys must step up for Dallas. Seth Curry, Dorian Finney-Smith and Justin Anderson have made their presence felt in recent games.
- Defend the three: The Mavericks rank dead last in the league in three-point percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot over 39 percent from behind the arc. With New York ranking 12th in three-point shooting percentage, this should be a focal point of Rick Carlisle's pre-game speech.
Projected Knicks starting lineup
PG Derrick Rose, SG Courtney Lee, SF Carmelo Anthony, PF Kristaps Porzingis, C Joakim Noah.
Projected Mavericks starting lineup
PG Deron Williams, SG Seth Curry, SF Harrison Barnes, PF Dorian Finney-Smith, C Dirk Nowitzki.
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