The Dallas Mavericks will host the Phoenix Suns on Monday night in a battle of Western Conference foes. Dallas comes into this game at 13-11 which is good for fifth in the West while Phoenix comes in at 11-14 which is ninth in the west but just a half game out of the eighth spot.
The Mavericks won two consecutive road games last week and were feeling good as they came home for a three game home stand but they have lost the first two and Phoenix will look to make it three. Dallas' defense was not very good in their last game against the Washington Wizards and they are looking to get back on the right track.
Dirk Nowitzki leads the team with his 17.4 points per game and his 22.0 PER but he has struggled in the last two games. Dirk has shot just 9-29 in the last two games including 2-11 from three for a grand total of 26 points. Nowitzki though, is shooting the ball great overall this season (48 percent from the field, 41 percent from three) and has averaged 22 points per game against the Suns in his career so he should be able to breakout of his mini slump.
While Nowitzki has struggled recently, Raymond Felton has been playing very well of late as he picked up his second career triple-double in Dallas' loss Saturday. Felton's minutes have been way up recently and head coach Rick Carlisle is a huge fan of him so he should continue to get opportunities to produce.
On the injury front Deron Williams is expected to return to the lineup on Monday after missing Saturday's game with an illness. Williams is listed as probable and he is in the middle of a somewhat resurgent season as he is averaging 15.3 points and 6.0 assists per game.
The Suns have won three of their last four games including their win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday when they scored an NBA season high 43 points off of 24 Timberwolves turnovers.
Phoenix has been led by Eric Bledsoe this season as he leads the team with his 22.3 points and 6.5 assists per game. His 22.7 PER is also tops on the team. Bledsoe is coming off a 23 point and nine assist effort against the Timberwolves and he is having an All-Star caliber season.
Bledsoe's backcourt mate Brandon Knight is also having a very good season as he is averaging 20.7 points and 5.4 assists per game. On Sunday Knight made a career high seven three pointers and that came on the heels of an 0-12 shooting performance against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
The Suns don't have much to report on the injury front other than the fact that Tyson Chandler came back from his hamstring injury on Sunday and played 23 minutes. Chandler missed eight consecutive games with the injury and admitted he still doesn't have his "springs" back but he came off the bench on Sunday and will likely continue to do that until he is fully back.
These two teams met up earlier in the year back in late October in a game that the Mavericks won 111-95. Felton led the Mavs with 18 points in that game and Dallas held Phoenix' backcourt in check as Knight and Bledsoe combined for just 28 points on 40 percent shooting so the Suns will be looking for a small sliver of revenge.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 P.M. Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Mavericks radio broadcast go here and for the Suns radio broadcast go here.
