Dallas Mavericks to play tournament game on regular floor after production issues delay new court
DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks are playing a home game in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament for the first time on Friday night.
But they will do so on their regular court — not the special-edition tournament court.
The NBA said "a manufacturing issue" kept the Mavericks from having a ready-for-tournament-play court delivered in time for Friday’s home game against the Los Angeles Clippers, so Dallas’ regular home court was installed for the matchup instead.
The Mavericks’ tournament court was supposed to be mostly silver, with a darker gray stripe down the center of the floor with three images of the NBA Cup — one at midcourt, the others in each of the foul lanes — displayed as well. All home courts for tournament games follow that design pattern, though the color schemes are wildly different in each city.
The Mavericks displayed the gray and silver floor during a fan event on Thursday night.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon reports that after testing the court it was determined the played surface required more work to meet league standards.
Some players have voiced concerns about the courts and their footing on the painted surface. Indiana players Myles Turner and Tyrese Haliburton both said they felt like they were slipping on the Pacers’ tournament floor when it debuted last week.
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Ahead of the Mavericks-Nuggets in-season tournament game last Friday in Denver, Dallas forward Grant Williams noticed the three-point line was incorrectly drawn. The line was redrawn before the game.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the court would be ready for Dallas’ next scheduled home game in the tournament, Nov. 28 against Houston. The tournament runs through Dec. 9.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.