The Dallas Mavericks will be going up against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they will be without a handful of their players for the matchup. In the Mavericks' latest game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Klay Thompson was ruled out due to rest, and it made sense after he played more minutes than usual the game before that when they faced the Atlanta Hawks.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Mavericks will have Daniel Gafford out due to rest, after he finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds against the Grizzlies. PJ Washington is listed as doubtful with left ankle soreness, and Naji Marshall is listed as questionable with left foot soreness.
Of course, the other players on the list have been out for most of the season with injuries, such as Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II.
The league has never been afraid to look into why teams aren't playing specific players, but the Mavericks have a good argument if they do that. This is a back-to-back, and they actually won the game against the Grizzlies, so it doesn't look like they're blatantly trying to lose games.
It's been a rough season overall for the Mavericks health-wise, as most of their key players have been in and out of the lineup. Irving did not suit up at all as he recovers from his ACL injury from last season. When Anthony Davis was still on the team, he only played 20 games due to injuries, and he has yet to play for the Washington Wizards.
Before the All-Star break, Cooper Flagg suffered a foot injury that forced him to miss a few games, but he's been able to bounce back and play in the past few games.
For Mavericks fans, it may suck for them not knowing what this team could've looked like if everyone was available at the same time.
