Friday always calls for NBA action, and what better way to end the week with than an ESPN primetime doubleheader for all NBA fans to enjoy. The star power is slightly depleted but don’t sleep on tonight’s matchup between the Mavs and Sixers at 8 p.m., ET since these Mavericks are no easy out when they’re without their scoring maestro Luka Doncic who, before his injury was putting up some historically unprecedented numbers at the mere age of 21.

And that is no reason for the Mavericks to cry or lament over their string of recent unfortunate events not so ever in their favor. They’re an official 1-1 without Doncic, showing absolute moxie against two intimidating Eastern title contenders in the Bucks and Celtics consecutively.

While they were able to successfully keep a diminutive lead over the then-streaking Milwaukee Bucks who had, before Monday’s loss, won 18-straight games following a corner three buzzer-beater from Utah’s Bogdan Bogdanovic on November 8, Kristaps Porzingis and crew didn’t have enough in the tank to pry his Mavs over the visiting Boston Celtics. They gave everything they had but couldn’t survive the Kemba Walker-Jayson Tatum show in the second half as the rim looked as if there existed a titanium seal atop the rim.

Rick Carlisle’s offensive strategy gets even more tedious to mash together in the third game of Doncic’s absence, now that they’re up against the sixth-best defensive team in the NBA that is stifling and annoying on the perimeter, something that will be a thorn in the side of Carlisle’s Mavs all night considering that a majority of their offensive sets (and really, overall offensive effect) are all run through the perimeter. Other scorers like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jalen Brunson can certainly help to counter that, but it will be up to Kristaps Porzingis to weather the storm that is Joel Embiid since the two seven-footers will be matched up for about 95% of the game.

They’re well aware of each other’s dually-enriched acumen on both sides of the floor due to their knowledge of duking it out when KP was a Knick, so this marks the first time the two centers see each other with Porzingis playing in a different uniform and new system.

As it goes for the 20-9 Sixers, they’re 14-1 inside the Wells Fargo Center and had all the chances to make it 15-0 had it not been for some stops against the Miami Heat, and better shot selection from behind the arc from a currently underwhelming Al Horford in the games final minute after a missed pair of free throws.

Philly has lost two in a row but should fare well against the undersized Mavericks with a quartet of physical specimens, led by the expert-described “best center in the NBA” in Joel Embiid. 6’10 Ben Simmons is occasionally mocked and criticized for his limited offensive shot selection, but he is still averaging 14.4 points per game, 8.1 assists and 6.7 rebounds per contest, just a couple marks shy of the numbers that earned him Rookie of the Year honors in 2018.

As a team, their defense can be sticky, allowing the fifth-fewest points per game in the league. Also, and understandably, their rebounding is outstanding, grabbing nearly six more boards per game than their opponents.

The thing about these Mavericks though: through 28 games, they have a road record of 10 wins and two losses (thanks to Doncic tearing up a quarter of the league this year, of course) but historically stumble against the Sixers, as they haven’t gotten a positive result in the City of Brotherly Love dating back to last year, dropping their last three visits to Philadelphia.

Let’s see if that bad streak ends tonight under the bright lights of primetime.