'Standings-Blind' GAMEDAY: Luka & Porzingis OUT as Mavs Visit Hawks' Trae Young

Dallas Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle Claims to Not Bother Looking at the NBA Standings. But for Mavs at Hawks GAMEDAY? Even with Doncic and Porzingis OUT, Trae Young Might give us An Eyeful

No, we don't believe Rick Carlisle, in the literal sense, when he claims to have never glanced at this season's NBA standings. The Dallas Mavericks coach is "a man of a certain age,'' which means he probably likes the newspaper. He's also tech-savvy, and the internet engulfs him, as it does all of us.

Carlisle is also extremely bright, is an information junkie, and is too much of a control freak to not have a handle on every possible angle.

"Pro athletes use Muscle MX before and after workouts for their muscles and joints - and so does an 'amateur athlete' like me! - Fish. (Click image to learn more about a great DallasBasketball.com/SI.com partner!)

But, for the purpose of attempting to get his young team to develop a monk-like focus on the immediate task at hand, one-game-at-a-time all that?

Rick's is a helluva bit.

Game Time: 6:30 p.m. CT

Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta

TV/Radio: FSSW, 103.3 FM, Univision, 1270 AM (Spanish)

Records: Mavericks (34-22), Magic (16-41)

It's gameday as Carlisle's Mavs play on the second night of a back-to-back, tonight at Atlanta. Dallas is coming off a specular effort by not only Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis - who have combined for 58.5 points and 22.5 rebounds in their last two games, becoming just the second duo in the last 50 years to each total 20/10/5 in consecutive games - but also by Max Kleber, who on Friday helped Dallas power over the Magic in Orlando with a career-best 26 points.

Orlando-to-Atlanta isn't a challenging trip, as these things go. But Porzingis and his "load management'' has him listed as OUT for tonight. Same with Luka as Dallas is being considerate of his ankle. And Atlanta, despite its poor record, is scary in two respects:

One, the Mavs inexplicably struggle at Atlanta, where they've lost six straight times.

And two ... Trae Young.

Doncic and Young were of course traded for one another on 2018's NBA Draft night, then engaged in a Rookie of the Year battle (Luka won) and most recently faced off in on All-Star Weekend in both the Rising Stars Game and the All-Star Game, both as starters in the All-Star Game last weekend. They're pals, but they're also rivals.

Young this week against Miami scored a career-best 50 points to lift his season scoring average to 30.1 points per game; Doncic is at 29 points per.

The Mavericks' best hope here, as they do not have a healthy collection of young standouts putting on a show? Despite the challenges of back-to-backs, Dallas record in the second night so far is 6-3. That's a good set of numbers to cling to ... even for guys who claim they don't bother looking at certain numbers.