Hello and welcome to another edition of the Nix Film School pregame show.

My name is Andrew Claudio, aka GMAC, and it's time to preview the next upcoming matchup on Thursday night

against the Dallas Mavericks, a team that comes in at 22 and 16, around 6th or 7th

in the Western Conference.

There's a bit of a glut around 4th through 7th in the West, although, you know, well,

we can relate with the glut that exists between fourth

and eighth in the east. They do come in a bit banged up. We should say at the top, in case you

missed it, Luca Donchich will not be playing in this game on Thursday night. He is out with a sprained

ankle. Their rookie, Derek lively, who has been a revelation for them this year for the Mavericks. He is also

questionable coming into this. He missed their most recent game against the Memphis Grizzlies,

also dealing with an ankle issue. Look, their last two games, the Mavericks, they beat the

Minnesota Timberwolves by seven at home. This is a fully healthy Minnesota Timberwolves team,

had Conley, had Gobert,

had that starting five that it's been impossible to

score on and win against, and the Mavericks still got the W at

home. Then their next game, while they were missing lively,

they lost to the Jomarantless and Jaron Jackson

junior list Memphis Grizzlies at home by 17.

So they're coming off of a pretty, I don't want to say embarrassing, pretty frustrating loss at home.

They're currently on a seven-game homestand to begin 2024 in Dallas.

So we'll see.

They'll be missing two of their big guns coming into this.

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