On July 23rd, the Dallas Mavericks will take the floor for the first time since March to scrimmage against the Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA instituted these three scrimmages for teams to readjust to game conditioning before the final eight games of the season begin, hopefully reducing the chances of injury and progressive fatigue.
When asked about the scrimmages in media availability earlier this week, Rick Carlisle made his vision clear. “I do think there’s some latitude to do some different things,” he suggested. “An Eastern [Conference team] facing a Western [Conference team] who they won’t see again presents a more friendly situation,” he emphasized, “Everything is in play.