New York @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 25, 2017 ) New York 95, Dallas 103

The road remains difficult for the New York Knicks, who will try to secure a rare win away from home when they cap a three-game trip at Dallas on Sunday. The Knicks are 0-2 to begin the excursion following a 107-103 overtime loss in Miami on Friday, and their 3-14 road mark is worse than all but two teams in the NBA.

Kristaps Porzingis, who earlier in the trip said he was "so tired," was 5-of-14 from the floor in the loss and is 15-for-46 during New York's three-game losing streak. The Mavericks have been on a very different path of late, first going 3-0 on a road trip but returning home to drop two in a row at American Airlines Center while giving up an average of 124.5 points. "We are falling into some bad habits playing these windshield-wiper games," coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after Friday's 127-124 loss to Chicago. "We just need to take a hard look at it." Wesley Matthews scored 24 points against the Bulls and is 12-for-19 from 3-point range through the first two games on the homestand.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FS Southwest (Dallas)

ABOUT THE KNICKS (18-21): New York is 7-11 since losing Tim Hardaway Jr. (leg) last month and while the team's second-leading scorer is increasing his activity, his absence continues to be an issue for Porzingis, who bears the burden of being the team's only true go-to guy. "It's physically harder," Porzingis told reporters of playing without Hardaway's support. "That's something I was preparing myself for. It's not that all of a sudden it hit me and I have to be ready. I prepared myself for it and I have to be ready for it if I want to be the guy. There can't be any excuses made now that there's so many minutes I'm playing or whatever it is." Michael Beasley continues to do his part to help out and he scored 20 points in each of the last two games.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (13-27): Future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki is enjoying his most consistent stretch of the season as he scored in double figures in nine straight games after going 8-for-11 from the floor Friday - including 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Matthews has been just about as hot and his accuracy on the homestand has pushed his 3-point percentage at American Airlines Center to 41.1 percent, but he knows the team needs to hunker down defensively to end the two-game slide. "We let them start 8 for 8 to start the game, and at the start of the fourth quarter they went on a 10-0 run in two minutes," Matthews told the media Friday. "That's unacceptable, and going forward we've got to get back to that brand of basketball that we've been playing."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Knicks C Enes Kanter is 17-for-22 from the floor in three games this month.

2. Nowitzki needs 10 made free throws to tie Hall of Famer Jerry West (7,160) for sixth on the NBA's all-time list.

3. Dallas won three straight meetings with New York at home and 25 of the last 31 overall.

PREDICTION: Mavericks 113, Knicks 109