Friday, October 29th at 9.00 pm (CT) on ESPN, Dallas Mavericks face the Denver Nuggets and their MVP, Nikola Jokic. It will be a match-up where playoff-caliber teams and MVP candidates collide.
In last season, the Dallas Mavericks had a great finish with a 42-30 record and a fifth seed in the NBA Playoffs. Their playoff run ended in the western conference losing to the Los Angeles Clippers after seven games in the first round.
The Denver Nuggets finished the season with a 47-25 record, finishing as a third seed in the western conference but lost one of their star players, Jamal Murray, to an injury. Facing off with the Portland Trail Blazers, they still found a way to win the first round 4-2. Moving to the next round, they faced the Phoenix Suns, losing the series 0-4.
Their star player Jamal Murray suffered a season-ending injury in the 2020 – 2021 season with a torn ACL. He is expected to come back, though he will not be in the lineup this Friday to face the Mavericks.
The Dallas Mavericks are currently 1-1 beating Toronto 103-95 this past Friday. They will compete against the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs before facing the Denver Nuggets.
Luka Doncic, the Mavericks’ star player, is averaging a near triple-double for the season (22.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 9.5 assists). With analysts calling Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic this year’s top candidate for MVP, Luka is expected to make his MVP statement against Jokic during Friday’s game.
