Knicks look to prevent Mavericks from picking up steam

Jalen Brunson isn't the only key injured player for a New York Knicks team that is looking at a relatively short period of time before it becomes something close to whole.

The Dallas Mavericks are hoping Monday night's glimpse of what it'd be like to have Anthony Davis carry an injury- and trade-depleted team into the postseason is more than a mirage.

The Mavericks will aim to match their longest winning streak of the Davis era -- three -- on Tuesday night when they visit New York in the final regular-season clash between the teams.

The Knicks are coming off a 122-103 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday.

The Mavericks are completing a back-to-back set in the Big Apple after beating the Brooklyn Nets, 120-101, on Monday night.

The win Saturday improved the Knicks to 44-26 overall and 4-4 in eight full games without Brunson, who suffered a sprained right ankle in overtime of a 113-109 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on March 6. The team said Saturday that Brunson has begun controlled court work. He is expected to return before the end of the regular season.

"You are not replacing Jalen individually," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said Saturday. "It's impossible. We have to do it collectively with our defense and rebounding and playing together."

Miles McBride fared reasonably well upon replacing Brunson in the starting lineup before suffering a groin injury that will sideline him for a second straight game Tuesday. He averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 assists per game in seven starts before getting hurt.

Center Mitchell Robinson is questionable for Tuesday as he continues ramping up following his return from off-season ankle surgery.

If Robinson does play, he likely won't line up against Davis, whose availability down the stretch likely will determine whether the Mavericks (37-39) can earn a Western Conference play-in spot.

Dallas is 9-14 since the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers in exchange for Davis on Feb. 2. The Mavericks enter Tuesday's game tied with the Phoenix Suns for 10th place and the final play-in spot in the West.

Davis is expected to sit out Tuesday after he had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists Monday in his first game since Feb. 8, when he suffered an adductor strain in his Mavericks debut.

Davis' return was welcomed by the Mavericks, who lost Kyrie Irving to a season-ending left knee injury on March 3 and will be indefinitely without Dereck Lively II (right ankle) and Daniel Gafford (right knee). Reserve Naji Marshall scored a team-high 22 points to lead seven Dallas players in double figures Monday.

"You have to commend him for working to get back," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of Davis. "We can always talk about the future. That's the balance that we have to look at. Tonight's the start of him working towards hopefully playing the rest of the season, but we've got to remember he gets paid to play."

--Field Level Media