DHJ Quick Take: Survival Mode in Phoenix<\/p>\n
The Injury Crisis: What was already a thin roster has reached a breaking point. Dallas has officially ruled out Klay Thompson (rest), Naji Marshall (hip), Daniel Gafford (shoulder), Kyrie Irving (knee), Dereck Lively II (foot), Caleb Martin (foot), P.J. Washington (elbow), and Brandon Williams (illness). This marks the 42nd different starting lineup for Jason Kidd in 80 games.<\/p>\n
Ciss\u00e9\u2019s Big Moment: With Lively and Gafford sidelined, Moussa Ciss\u00e9 becomes the primary interior option. Kidd praised the rookie\u2019s aggression following Tuesday\u2019s loss, noting that Ciss\u00e9\u2014who is averaging 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in limited minutes\u2014will be tasked with defending Dillon Brooks and anchoring the paint at the Mortgage Matchup Center.<\/p>\n
Flagg\u2019s Heavy Lift: Cooper Flagg (wrist) is probable and will essentially be the Mavericks\u2018 entire offensive engine. Coming off two 40-point games earlier this week, Flagg must navigate a physical Suns defense led by Devin Booker and Bradley Beal with almost no veteran support on the floor.<\/p>\n
PHOENIX \u2014 The Dallas Mavericks<\/a> are as shorthanded as they have been all season. On Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns, whoever is available will need to step up.<\/p>\n Klay Thompson<\/a> (rest), Naji Marshall<\/a> (left hip contusion), Daniel Gafford<\/a> (right shoulder impingement), Kyrie Irving<\/a> (left knee surgery), Dereck Lively II<\/a> (right foot surgery), Caleb Martin<\/a> (right plantar fascia strain), P.J. Washington<\/a> (left elbow soreness), and Brandon Williams<\/a> (illness) are all out on Wednesday. <\/p>\n Dallas Mavericks Embrace \u2018Next-Man-Up\u2019<\/p>\n The length of the injury report was not a surprise. Following Tuesday\u2019s 116-103 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>, Kidd made clear the roster picture heading into Phoenix would be complicated.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst, it\u2019s understanding who\u2019s going to be available,\u201d Kidd said Tuesday. \u201cIt\u2019s a next-man-up mentality because it doesn\u2019t look like we\u2019ll have everyone. There will be plenty of minutes for others. Once we know who\u2019s available, we\u2019ll make the game plan and go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n Marshall\u2019s absence was the most notable addition to the list. He exited Tuesday\u2019s game in the fourth quarter with the hip contusion, and while head coach Jason Kidd<\/a> had not ruled him out immediately after the loss, he acknowledged the quick turnaround as a legitimate concern.<\/p>\n \u201cHe left the game with a hip contusion,\u201d Kidd said Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how he feels tomorrow. It\u2019s a quick turnaround \u2014 not ruling him out right now, but we\u2019ll see how he feels.\u201d<\/p>\n Who Else Steps Up?<\/p>\n A player who hasn\u2019t been in the rotation lately, like\u00a0Moussa Ciss\u00e9<\/a>, will be asked to do more. However, so will talents like Max Christie, who posted 12 points on 10-of-10 from the free throw line Tuesday against the Clippers, and Kidd pointed to his aggression as something he expects to carry over Wednesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cMax Christie is aggressive,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cHe had some good looks that just did a great job for him. He continued to attack.\u201d<\/p>\n Christie figures to carry an expanded offensive burden alongside Cooper Flagg<\/a> with so many regulars unavailable. Two-way players John Poulakidas<\/a> and Tyler Smith<\/a> are also available and could see additional minutes depending on how the game unfolds.<\/p>\n For Ciss\u00e9, Wednesday represents the kind of opportunity that does not come around often on a roster this deep with veterans. The Mavericks have used 41 different starting lineups in 79 games this season \u2014 a byproduct of an injury situation that has rarely allowed the same group to take the floor consecutively. The Suns, by contrast, have used just 24. That disparity in continuity has been one of the defining storylines of Dallas\u2019s season, and it will be on full display Wednesday night in Phoenix.<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s game tips off at 9 p.m. CT at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DHJ Quick Take: Survival Mode in Phoenix The Injury Crisis: What was already a thin roster has reached…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3791],"tags":[7,6,2065,472,4045,604],"class_list":{"0":"post-706289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix-suns","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-phoenix","11":"tag-phoenix-suns","12":"tag-phoenixsuns","13":"tag-suns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116372389478789020","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}