PREVIEW
NEW YORK KNICKS (29-27) AT MAVERICKS (30-24)
Time: 8:30 p.m.
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: Bally Sports Southwest Plus; ESPN
Radio: ESPN 103.3 FM; Univision 1270 AM (Spanish)
About the Mavericks: As they open up a five-game home stand tonight, the Mavs are coming off arguably their most improbable victory of the season. Trailing the Memphis Grizzlies by two points and taking the ball out of bounds with just 1.8 seconds left, guard Luka Doncic drained an off-balanced, stumbling, bumbling, wild 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Mavs prevailed, 114-113, in electrifying fashion. Doncic, who had just four points at halftime, finished with 29 points. Also, since Doncic entered the NBA in 2018, he is the only player to make four 3-point shots with five seconds or less remaining in a regular season game or a playoff game that either tied or won the game. . .After tonight, the Mavs will host the Sacramento Kings on Sunday and the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday before rounding out the home stand with a pair of games against the Los Angeles Lakers — on Thursday and on April 24 – before starting a three-game road trip in Sacramento on April 26. . .The Mavs are only one game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 6 playoff spot in the Western Conference. If the Mavs beat the Knicks and the Blazers lose their game tonight in San Antonio, the Mavs and Blazers will be tied for the No. 6 playoff spot, although the Blazers own the tiebreaker . . .The Mavs are just 13-12 at home and will be trying to snap a two-game home losing streak. . .They are 13-8 vs. the Eastern Conference.
About the Knicks: While seemingly peaking at the right time of the season, the Knicks are riding a season-high four-game winning streak. They won in New Orleans on Wednesday, 116-106, behind 32 points from Plano native Julius Randle. . .Also during this winning streak, the Knicks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 111-96, last Monday thanks to 34 points and 10 rebounds from Randle. This past Sunday, Randle produced 26 points to lead the Knicks to a 102-96 victory over Toronto. And on April 9, Randle registered his fifth triple-double of this season as his 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists helped the Knicks to a 133-129 win against Memphis in overtime. . .The Knicks lost to the Mavs in New York, 99-86, back on April 2. It was only a three-point lead by Dallas after three periods before the Mavs outscored the Knicks, 27-17, in the fourth quarter. Randle was held to just 14 points on 5-of-20 shooting in that contest. Randle, who played in his first All-Star game back in February, also contributed eight rebounds and a game-high 11 assists in that game against the Mavs. . .Randle is averaging 23.2 pgg, 10.6 rpg and 6.0 apg. . .This is the finale of a short two-game road trip for the Knicks before they return to New York to open a six-game home stand on Sunday against New Orleans. . .The Knicks currently are sixth in the Eastern Conference, 12-17 on the road and 10-10 against the West.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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