The Dallas Mavericks’ health is trending in the right direction as they prepare for Wednesday’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Lakers, and head coach Jason Kidd confirmed that several key players are on track to see extended minutes.

After Monday’s 114–101 win over the Utah Jazz, Kidd said the team’s focus remains on ramping up game readiness while continuing to integrate new lineup combinations.

“Caleb and Brandon Williams went through practice,” Kidd said Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena. “The guys who didn’t were Danté Exum, Daniel Gafford, and Kyrie Irving.”

Anthony Davis’ Minutes Increasing

Anthony Davis, who posted 25 points in 25 minutes against Utah, will see his workload rise once again in the preseason finale. Kidd said the plan is to extend Davis’ minutes possibly into the fourth quarter as Dallas fine-tunes its rotations ahead of opening night.

“Everybody’s minutes will go up tomorrow,” Kidd said. “Going into this being our last preseason game, we’ll try to get those guys extended minutes. Things were going well for AD, and we were looking to maybe get him into the fourth. Tomorrow, we’ll probably get everyone trending toward that fourth quarter.”

Davis said he’s feeling comfortable as his conditioning continues to build.

“I feel good,” Davis said. “Still got some things to clean up, still working on things, but overall, I think myself and the team feel really good about where we are.”

Jason Kidd Pleased with Dereck Lively II’s Return

Dereck Lively II returned to action Monday and played limited minutes by design. Kidd explained that the restriction was part of a “script” to ease him back into game rhythm.

“Everything is scripted,” Kidd said. “Lively had an eight-minute script with that first group to see him in that rotation. He did great. So yes, that was the plan to limit him yesterday.”

Injury List Shrinking

While Gafford (ankle), Exum (knee), and Irving (knee) remain out, Caleb Martin and Brandon Williams both completed practice Tuesday.

Kidd said Martin’s return was encouraging, but his availability for Wednesday will depend on how he feels following the session.

“He went through practice today,” Kidd said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow and then we’ll make that call, but I thought he did a good job for his first day back.”

Ongoing Rotation Experiments

Even with the regular season less than a week away, Kidd emphasized that Dallas will keep testing different lineup looks through the preseason finale.

“We’re going to continue looking at different combinations until the 21st,” Kidd said. “Ryan [Nembhard] played a little earlier than normal, and I thought he did an incredible job. But yes, we’re going to keep trying different looks.”

Davis echoed that Nembhard’s performance was a highlight in Monday’s win.

“It was good,” Davis said. “Ryan did a great job getting us in our spots and distributing the ball. I think he had 10 assists. We actually acknowledged it today in film—he did a phenomenal job running the offense.”

Anthony Davis at Center Gives ‘Promising’ Look

Kidd said he liked the defensive results from lineups featuring Davis at center, noting that the team’s defensive rating of 99 in that stretch reflected strong two-way play.

“That first group was really good on both sides of the ball,” Kidd said. “The pace was good, and defensively, to have a rating of 99 was really good. That means those guys were playing at a high level. AD at the five was a nice look—we hadn’t really looked at that yet. It looked promising.”

When asked about the ongoing debate regarding Davis’ role at the four or five, Kidd made clear that flexibility and health will dictate usage.

“Everybody has an opinion and that’s cool, but we’ve got to do what’s best for us,” Kidd said. “AD can play any position, and we have a deep team. As we get healthy, we’ll have a deep team and hopefully that means we don’t have to lean on guys for heavy minutes. But right now, with some injuries, if him playing the five helps us win, then that’s what we have to do.”

Vegas Finale Before Season Opener

The Mavericks will close out their preseason against the Lakers on Wednesday night in Las Vegas before returning home to prepare for the Oct. 22 regular-season opener against the San Antonio Spurs.

“The vibe is good,” Davis said. “Energy is high. We’re continuously working and getting better each and every day.”

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