Dallas Mavericks enter NBA Rivals Week battered and bruised against former playoff foes

The Dallas Mavericks are about to play three of their four opponents from last season’s extensive playoff run over a span of four days. As part of the third annual NBA Rivals Week, the Mavericks will face a grueling stretch with rematches against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics. Classic and budding rivalries between teams and players will be the central focus of 10 nationally televised games from Tuesday through Saturday. Traditionally, the Mavericks’ rivals during the Dirk Nowitzki era included the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns. Dallas went through a gauntlet of championship contenders last season, which unlocked a new form of competitive tension between the Wolves, Thunder and Celtics. The Mavericks will kick off Rivals Week by hosting the Timberwolves at American Airlines Center on Wednesday in the third and final meeting of the regular season. Luka Doncic suffered a left calf strain on Christmas Day in the last game between the two teams and Dallas has struggled with a 4-10 record since their franchise player went down. Dallas beat Minnesota on Oct. 29 at Target Center thanks to a 35-point performance by Kyrie Irving. The game was clinched with a dagger 3-pointer by Doncic in an eerily similar shot to his game-wining triple over Rudy Gobert in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. The shot was the precursor to a five-game gentleman’s sweep and the Mavericks’ first trip to the NBA Finals in 13 years. That won’t happen this time around because Doncic is still sidelined for at least the next week until he’s re-evaluated, but there could be some entertaining moments between Irving and Minnesota star Anthony Edwards. The two went toe-to-toe on Christmas, with a 39-point performance from Irving and a 26-point effort from Edwards. Edwards was notably known last spring for publicly accepting the challenge to guard Irving in the Western Conference Finals, a decision he has since said he wishes he could take back. After the last meeting, Edwards declared Irving as the “greatest point guard.” “It’s inspirational, man,” Irving said. “The next generation, they are a little bit different but I gotta give them credit. They challenge us to be better and challenge us to be those heroes that they saw growing up. … The admiration can’t necessarily be there, but you know underneath that, we all respect each other. “We kind of have to toe that line, but I’m trying to rip hearts out, man,” Irving said. “I know those guys feel the same way.” Speaking of respect, there’s no love lost between the Mavericks and Thunder. Friday’s meeting was chippy, physical and full of competitive emotion — even without Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There were several moments when the two teams had to be separated to avoid further confrontation. P.J. Washington, who’s built a reputation with some of his best performances against Oklahoma City, was at the center of several jawing matches. Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe and Irving was also involved in a verbal altercation during Friday’s matchup. “It’s personal,” Irving said. “I think it’s the start of a healthy rivalry just because they’re good, man. ... When the pushing and shoving occurs, that’s just good, competitive basketball that we feel is only right at this point because we have to protect ourselves. If somebody comes into the circle and starts pushing, you know it’s going to lead to everyone protecting themselves.” Dallas will fly less than an hour north to play against the Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back to conclude the season series. The Mavericks are the only team this season to beat the top-seeded Thunder twice and both games did not include Doncic. Gilgeous-Alexander has returned to the lineup since sitting out Friday’s game with right wrist soreness, which makes Thursday’s series finale a greater challenge. Rivals Week will culminate on Saturday with three games on ABC, but none more intriguing than the finals rematch between Dallas and Boston. The Mavericks fell to the Celtics in five games last June, which prompted them to restructure their roster with the addition of Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie. Meanwhile, Boston remained intact with the same roster and they’re currently second in the Eastern Conference. The two teams don’t appear to be on a collision course to meet once again in June because of the Mavericks’ rash of injuries. A game that would normally be viewed as a formidable measuring stick to measure progress will likely be taken with a grain of salt since the Mavericks are severely short-handed. However, a regular season game against one of the East’s best is still a good test for the Mavericks. The Celtics are 6-4 over their past 10 games. Dallas has a 2-4 mark against the top four teams in the NBA [Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Boston and Houston]. The Mavericks are seventh in the Western Conference and ailing at a time when the schedule isn’t doing them any favors. It’s quite possible they could be on a four-game losing streak by the end of the week, but they’ve also shown resiliency throughout the season thanks to their “next man up” mentality. Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.