Kyrie Irving is on the lip of the cup to return to game action and the Mavericks are ready for one of their leaders to come back.
In more ways than one.
With a rematch against Denver looming Tuesday night (8:30 p.m. tip), the Mavericks obviously are ready to add Irving's services on the court. They need as many arrows in their quiver as they can get.
But they're also ready in the respect that they are becoming quite adept at adjusting to new lineups - or groups that haven't played together for a while. Goodness knows they've done it often enough.
"There's always an adjustment when a key piece comes back," coach Jason Kidd said on Monday. "Sometimes you relax. Sometimes, you wait. But for us, it's got to be continuing to push forward.
"Kai will join the party. When Luka (Dončić) gets healthy, he'll join. Thoe guys are special. They understand how to play the game at a high level. So we got to keep pushing our role players to keep that standard high and that's what they're doing right now. We can't take a step back. We don't have any room to do that."
Irving returned to practice on Monday and had no limitations after missing the last five games with a back sprain. The Mavericks went 2-3 in those games and are 3-6 overall this season when Irving has been sidelined.
"He did really well, looked good. He did the whole practice," Kidd said.
When asked what the Mavericks will enjoy most when Irving returns, he said: "The quarterback aspect, the leadership, his ability to score - just his presence. His gravity, two on the ball while he has it. We've definitely missed that. Hopefully we get that back soon."
Irving is listed as questionable, which is an upgrade from being listed as out the day before Sunday's 112-101 loss to the Nuggets.
Irving is averaging 24.3 points per game and shooting a career-best 44.1 percent from three-point land.
While he has been out, which has coincided with Dončić being out with a left calf strain, the Mavericks have patched together different lineups and done a commendable job of staying afloat in the Western Conference standings.
"It's been great," Kidd said. "They've been playing at a high level. The energy and effort have been there. We'd like to win all the games, but we can learn from our wins and losses. And I think the group has done an incredible job with those two out.
Dereck Lively II has been the Maverick who has perhaps had the most growth, figuratively speaking, while the stars have been absent.
The 7-1 center is coming off an eight-assist game on Sunday and has become a point-center of sorts.
And when you're playing against Denver, you go against the best point-center in NBA history - three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
"I'm just trying to do my best to help us win," Lively said. "If I got to go out there and continue to pass the ball and get my teammates open, I'll do it 10-times-fold. It's a joy to go out there and see us string together possessions, stringing together great passing rotations and finding the open man. That's the basketball gods rewarding us for playing great basketball."
And there's a reason why Lively takes pride in being a good assists man.
"I got that from my momma," he said. "She never cared about the points. She cared about the rebounds, the assists, the blocks and everything else."
Kidd said that having Lively as a decision maker offensively is something the Mavericks hope to continue using even with Irving and, at some point, Luka back.
"You can see D-Live is comfortable in playmaking," Kidd said. "So using him as the hub - I think the next step is being able to extend his range and that's going to come in time of him being able to shoot the jumper or the three.
"But he's comfortable on the perimeter. He can find the open guy. Also, on the pick and roll, being able to play-make or go and finish, he's comfortable in that situation. So we're definitely going to use him as much as we can."
As Naji Marshall said: "Usually we're led by two superstars in Kyrie and Luka, feeding off those guys. Unfortunately, we don't have them so guys got to show their real game and the coaches have been giving us confidence to go out there and play free and I think that's what we've been doing."
It's worked about as well as it can, but keeping the best elements of their play recently with the stars coming back will be crucial for the Mavericks moving forward.
Here's what else to watch for Tuesday against the Nuggets: