INDIANAPOLIS – A trio of fans waited in the frigid 20-degree weather outside of the historic St. Elmo Steak House with notebooks in hand, hoping to secure autographs from the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks held a team dinner at the historic restaurant in downtown Indianapolis to celebrate their first win in exactly a month, but the impromptu gathering was added to the itinerary thanks to an extra night in town.
For the second time this season, inclement weather could place an NBA game involving the Mavericks in jeopardy of being postponed.
Dallas is scheduled to play the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Tuesday, but a massive blizzard that descended upon New York City over the weekend has delayed their travel.
Mavericks
The Mavericks just snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 134-130 win over the Indiana Pacers and were initially arranged to fly out of Indianapolis following Sunday’s game.
A winter storm has intensified across the Northeast and thousands of flights have been canceled, as a result.
What was supposed to be a practice day in New York has turned into a practice day in Indianapolis. The Mavericks’ new takeoff time at Indianapolis International Airport is scheduled for shortly after 3 p.m. ET. If all goes according to plan, the team is expected to arrive in New York just before 5 p.m. ET.
“[Monday’s] going to be a long day and we can’t leave until the evening, and there’s no guarantee with that,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. “We’ve been in this situation. We’ve been in a lot of situations and have been able to sit on planes. Hopefully we can get out and get to New York.”
It was just last month when the Mavericks found themselves in a similar predicament, when a winter storm struck North Texas, which prevented their plane from taking off for a flight to Milwaukee. That game against the Bucks, originally scheduled for Jan. 25, was postponed to March 31.
It’s been an eventful weekend in Indianapolis for the Mavericks. Rookie forward Cooper Flagg made an appearance at Indy Sports Card on Saturday, as part of a sponsored event called “Topps Rip Night.” He spent the evening engaging with fans and opening Topps trading cards. He even spent $7,000 on a handful of rookie cards of his college roommate, Kon Knueppel.
Flagg has another obligation in New York City prior to Tuesday’s game against the Nets that could be in jeopardy. He is slated to make his late night television debut Monday night on the Jimmy Fallon Show, but the team’s travel issues could cause him to miss it. Flagg has missed the last three games because of a left midfoot sprain.
P.J. Washington regained his footing in Flagg’s absence Sunday and scored 23 points with nine rebounds. He was pleased with the win, but disappointed with the Mavericks’ latest travel woes.
“I’m not really too happy about it,” Washington said. “I don’t think anybody wants to stay the night here. It is what it is, though. We’ve been dealing with stuff like that the whole year so it is what it is. I just hope we get there.”
Despite the change of plans, the Mavericks didn’t let an extra night in Indianapolis go to waste. Sunday’s early tip-off time allowed the team to gather at St. Elmo for a warm meal to combat the bitter cold.
The dinner was well attended by several players, coaches and staff, who spent the majority of the evening eating and talking, a person familiar with the gathering told The Dallas Morning News. It’s the type of bonding that can help a team during the period after the All-Star break, also known as the dog days of an NBA season.
The unplanned off-court time together could also be beneficial for the Mavericks’ four new players, including Khris Middleton, who scored a season-high 25 points on Sunday. The veteran sharpshooter spent over 11 seasons in Milwaukee and the last year in Washington D.C., so he’s used to inclement weather.
“We haven’t had too many of these delays and snowstorms since I’ve been in the east and Midwest,” Middleton said. “It happens once in a while. These last two, three years they’re starting to really come down on us here in the East. Hopefully this is the last one. Thankfully we don’t have to deal with that too much in Dallas.”
The Mavericks aren’t the only team in this situation with travel issues. The Nets played in Atlanta on Sunday and remain unable to leave as of Monday at 10:15 a.m. ET, according to a report by Erik Slater of Clutch Points.
“Brooklyn [played in] Atlanta and is in the same seat,” Kidd said. “Hopefully there is a game because I don’t know in our calendar where we can fit in another game.”
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