NBA Game of the Week: Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors

The Dallas Mavericks are set to travel out this Friday to Ball Arena, where they will face off against the defending NBA Champions, the Denver Nuggets, for the first time this season.

This matchup is the first major battle in the Western Conference that fans are going to get to witness in what is sure to be a long and ever-changing season.

The Nuggets are led by center Nikola Jokic, who has started the season averaging 26.2 points, followed by teammate Jamal Murray, who is averaging roughly 18.8 points, accumulating a team average of 110.8 points.

As for the Mavs, they are led by team stat holder Luka Doncic. Doncic leads the team in points, rebounds and assists, and all of that is looking to stay the same as they prepare to take on the Nuggets.

The headline-making trade from last season left lots in the air for what to expect this season. The Mavericks traded Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 second-round pick, a 2029 first-round pick (unprotected) and a 2029 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets.

Meanwhile, in return, Dallas received Markieff Morris and Kyrie Irving. Despite this trade favoring the Mavericks, many fans were left with a sour taste in their mouths, which brought much talent but even more questions.

The Mavs were happy with a 24-point debut by the All-Star, but were quickly put to worry as the team fell to a losing streak- and out of playoff contention following the trade.

Questions arose about whether the powered point guards were going to be able to work together on the court or if it would shape to be a one-man show being attempted by two different players.

Despite all this, it doesn’t matter, seeing as Kyrie is currently listed as questionable for this upcoming game, as he has sat out the past two games due to an ankle sprain on his left side. The Mavericks managed to still go 2-0 in those two games with a win over the Memphis Grizzlies and then the Chicago Bulls.

On the opposite end of the court, the Nuggets are in great shape coming off a historic season, but shaken by an eyesore of a game on Wednesday night as they fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a not-so-close game with the score reading 110-89 Timberwolves at the final buzzer.

The Nuggets were having a promising start to the season, starting off 4-0, but this loss exposed many flaws in the returning champions.

This is the first game of the season in which the Nuggets have been held under 100 points and showed that Nikola Jokic can be locked up, and when so – it shows. As executed by Timberwolves player Karl-Anthony Towns this past game.

The game will ultimately come down to each team's big men on the court's performance. Still, it will come down to which team's roster will have players begin to step up and strengthen the depth of the bench heading into not only this conference matchup but the overall season.

The two teams will tip off on Friday, Nov. 3rd, at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

Bronwyn Liber is a first-year student majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact her, email brl5354@psu.edu.