Dallas @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 2, 2018 ) New York 118, Dallas 106

The New York Knicks are in the midst of a 10-game losing streak and the only light at the end of the tunnel appears to be a high draft pick after the season. The Dallas Mavericks, who visit the Knicks on Wednesday, are showing just how valuable making the right high draft pick can be with rookie Luka Doncic leading the way.

New York held a brief fourth-quarter lead on Monday before allowing the Charlotte Hornets to go on a 17-1 run and roll to a 101-92 win. The Knicks will reportedly pursue a trade for New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis and have star forward Kristaps Porzingis inching closer to a return from a knee injury, but the immediate future remains bleak for a club that dropped 23 of its last 25 games and is locked in a battle with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the worst record in the league. The Mavericks are trying to fight their way through a crowded Western Conference and missed out on a three-game winning streak when they dropped a 123-120 decision to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. "We scored enough points - 120 points is enough points to win an NBA game," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "But even a high-scoring team like Toronto, you've got to find a way to keep them somehow in the low hundreds and we just didn’t do it."

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), MSG (New York)

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (22-27): Doncic, 19, became the youngster player in NBA history to post a 30-point triple-double in Sunday's setback with a season-high 35 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. "We couldn't get him out of rhythm because he was low and strong and crossing over," Toronto coach Nick Nurse told reporters. "Then with a burst, he was into the paint. And when we did get enough help there, he'd hang in the air until the last second and throw that incredible, two-handed pass out to the right corner. He's something else." The triple-double was Doncic's second in the last four games, but both came in losses.

ABOUT THE KNICKS (10-39): New York doesn't have a rookie on par with Doncic but small forward Kevin Knox is making strides in that direction. Knox, 19, shot 25.4 percent from the floor and averaged 7.2 points during a five-game span before busting out of the slump with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting (3-of-4 from 3-point range) on Monday. "Just a poised game where he picked his spots well," Knicks coach David Fizdale told reporters of Knox. "Those are the same shots he's been getting. He took his time and knocked them down. I thought it was a matter of time and I was going to keep pushing him through the fatigue and the struggles and all of that. That's something that's going to help him become a better basketball player."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Mavericks SF Harrison Barnes went 5-of-21 from the floor in the last two games.

2. Knicks C Enes Kanter sat out his fourth straight game on Monday as the team gives younger players a bigger role.

3. The road team took the last three in the series, with New York earning a 118-106 win at Dallas in the most recent meeting on Nov. 2.

PREDICTION: Mavericks 110, Knicks 99