Dallas @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 8, 2019 ) New York 106, Dallas 102

A press conference with the general manager and the team president questioning the team's effort did not seem to snap the New York Knicks out of their funk as the team matched its worst 11-game start in franchise history on Tuesday. The Knicks will try to pull out of their rut and save coach David Fizdale's job when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.

Fizdale is thought to be on the chopping block following the tough start and the front office press conference, and Tuesday's 120-102 loss to the Chicago Bulls did little to improve the outlook. "We've got 9-10 new guys? We've got 10 guys that have not played together at all and me who hasn't even been in the league yet," New York rookie RJ Barrett told reporters. "You're gonna have some challenges but you've got to keep pushing, keep pushing through everything. That's all I can really say. You've just got to stay together." The Mavericks handed the Knicks one of their two wins with a 106-102 home loss on Friday despite 28 points from former New York franchise player Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis was not as sharp on Monday and was left on the bench down the stretch as Dallas suffered a 116-106 setback at Boston.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (6-4): Porzingis, who missed the entire 2018-19 season while recovering from knee surgery, is averaging 18.3 points and 7.9 rebounds but was held to a season-low four points on 1-of-11 shooting Monday. "Of course I want to be out there, but can't blame him," Porzingis told reporters of getting benched late. "I wasn't having a great game. I'm all-in for whatever's best for the team. If the coach thinks he'd rather have me out and have someone else in that's having a better game, let's do it if we can win a basketball game. That's the most important thing, but going forward, I want to make sure I'm out there." Staying on the floor as much as possible is second-year star Luka Doncic, who is averaging 28.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists.

ABOUT THE KNICKS (2-9): New York's players were ready to back their coach after Tuesday's setback and recognize that they are the bigger problem. "He's trying to pull us toward a victory in different ways and at the same time we've been coming up short," veteran forward Taj Gibson told reporters of Fizdale. "We've just got to do a lot better and it's not just on him, it's on us, too. He's been trying to will us to wins and it's been going the opposite way as of late." Gibson went 8-of-10 from the floor but the rest of the team shot 35.9 percent in Tuesday's setback and the Knicks were outscored 35-17 in the fourth quarter.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Knicks C Mitchell Robinson (concussion) missed the last three games and is not expected to play Thursday.

2. Mavericks SG Seth Curry is 3-of-12 from 3-point range over the last four games.

3. The road team took the last five in the series, with Dallas earning a 114-90 victory in its trip to New York last season.

PREDICTION: Mavericks 117, Knicks 103