For the second time in three days, the Dallas Mavericks will have to re-group after having one of their games postponed.
On Thursday, the NBA postponed Friday’s game between the Mavs and Houston Rockets due to the government shutdown of the Toyota Center in Houston, where the weather conditions are severe. That information came two days after the NBA’s postponed Wednesday’s game in Dallas between the Mavs and Detroit Pistons for that exact same reason.
Inclement weather – including unusual snow and ice, and power outages and gas and water issues across the state of Texas — has made for some dangerous conditions on the roads and highways. It also has turned a lot of folks’ life upside down.
“The reasons are pretty clear,” coach Rick Carlisle said of the game being postponed. “There’s a lot of upheaval both in Houston and in Dallas.”
This is the third time the Mavs have had a game postponed during this 72-game truncated season. Dallas’ Jan. 11 home game against the New Orleans Pelicans was postponed due to COVID-19 issues and has yet to be re-scheduled.
Carlisle, however, acknowledged that the contest between the Mavs and Rockets could still be played this weekend before the Mavs host the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
“(This postponement) does not preclude us from possibly playing (the Rockets) before Monday,” Carlisle said. “Two days ago when our Detroit game was (postponed), they immediately re-scheduled the Pistons to play in Chicago the following night, which was last night. So that was a quick pivot.
“Something like that could end up happening where there would be a re-schedule. There have been a few as of late, so we’ll see what happens there.”
In addition to the Mavs being slated to entertain the Pistons this past Wednesday, the Chicago Bulls were scheduled to play the Hornets in Charlotte on Wednesday. The NBA postponed the Bulls-Hornets game because of COVID-19 contact tracing concerns with the Hornets, and the NBA ultimately matched the Bulls against the Hornets in Chicago on Wednesday night.
“There are some possibilities, but nothing’s imminent and nothing has been decided,” Carlisle said, referring to the re-scheduling of the game between the Mavs and Rockets. “We’ve been informed of one particular possibility, which has not come to fruition and may not. It’s looking more like it won’t. They’re going to keep us posted as best they can.
“The Detroit situation is a very good example of how quickly things can change and how all of us have to be ready to adapt, adjust, etcetera.”
The Mavs (13-15) last played a game this past Sunday at home against the Portland Trail Blazers. If they don’t play again until they host the Grizzlies, they will have gone a season-high seven consecutive days without playing a game.
That in itself could create some challenges.
“The positives are that we’ve had a couple of very good quality practice days, which are rare with the way things have been scheduled this year and the density of games,” Carlisle said. “Look, we can create a whole laundry list of negatives, but we just can’t look at it that way. We’ve got to always look from the optimistic point of view.
“We get a chance to practice, we get a chance to hopefully keep our guys healthy, get our guys even a little healthier, and then when the next opportunity to play comes, it’s an opportunity to play and so we’ll look forward to it. But the fact that things are unpredictable, changing, highly fluid, etcetera, it’s just what this year is about and so we’ll adapt and adjust as needed.”
As far as whether or not the Mavs have a say-so on when their game with the Rockets will be re-scheduled, Carlisle said: “I would say that there is. It’s an old saying, but it takes two to tango.
“I think everyone has the same goals and objectives, and that is to get in games where we can, understanding that postponements are going to lead to higher density in the second half, which is something that we’re all going to have to be aware. It’s going to be another additional challenge.”
Selma to Montgomery: As he has during this entire month before a game or after a practice session, coach Rick Carlisle read a historic black history moment to the media in honor of Black History Month. Carlisle said:
“The Selma to Montgomery marches marked the peak of the Voting Rights Movement in Selma, AL, which paved the way for the Voting Rights Act in 1965. There were three marches, and of the three marches only the last made it all the way to the capital of Montgomery. The path is now a U.S. National historic trail.’’
The Voting Rights Act is a U.S. legislation targeted to hurdle legal barriers at the local and state levels which prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Basically, it’s a landmark piece of federal legislation that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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