NBA Finals rematch? To paraphrase the coach rant now immortalized as a sportsbook commercial: Are you kidding me?

Saturday’s ABC-televised Boston-Dallas game in American Airlines Center is the first of two meetings in 12 days between last season’s NBA champion and runner-up, but current concerns of both franchises supersede any notion of a 2.0 NBA Finals come June.

Boston has lost three of its last six games and is coming off a 21-point loss to the Lakers. Injury-ravaged Dallas has more resembled Humpty Dumpty than a title contender.

“When you look at our injury report, it’s insane,” Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie said. “You could make a starting lineup out of our injury report alone.”

But . . .

“As long as we stay within striking distance,” Dinwiddie added, “we’re going to have basically the best trade-deadline acquisition anybody could have: Bring the MVP back.”

Dinwiddie, of course, is referring to Luka Doncic, who on Saturday will miss his 16th straight game with a left calf strain. Saturday also happens to mark one month from the day that Doncic sustained the injury, on Christmas Day.

It’s been reported that Saturday is the day that Doncic is scheduled to be medically re-evaluated, although technically the Mavericks’ Dec. 28 news release about the injury stated: “Doncic will be re-evaluated within one month with updates to follow as appropriate.”

Publicly, the Mavericks have remained vague about Doncic’s potential return-to-court timeline, but during the Jan. 14 Dallas-Denver game, TNT’s Jared Greenberg reported that though Doncic remained “weeks away” from returning, the Mavericks were confident he would be back before the All-Star break.

The All-Star break begins on Valentine’s Day. The NBA trade deadline falls on Feb. 6, a few hours before the Mavericks and Celtics meet again in TD Garden, so by Dinwiddie’s admittedly guesswork timeline, Doncic could be back or at least nearing a return.

In the aftermath of Dallas’ Thursday night upset of the West-leading Thunder in Oklahoma City, it’s understandable why Dinwiddie and other Mavericks spoke optimistically despite Dallas’ 5-10 record since losing Doncic.

Dinwiddie comparing Doncic’s impending return to a major trade acquisition was thought-provoking.

“We typically take off [get hot] after the trade deadline, right?” Dinwiddie asked. “We always add somebody – at least in the successful years. We’re looking forward to that.”

Dinwiddie speaks from experience. The Mavericks acquired him on Feb. 10, 2022, in the blockbuster that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Washington. Dallas won 17 of its last 23 games and surprisingly advanced to the Western Conference finals.

The following February, Dallas dealt Dinwiddie to Brooklyn in the four-player, three-draft pick deal that brought Kyrie Irving here. Dallas, though, lost 18 of its last 25 games and missed the playoffs.

Shortly after last season’s acquisitions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, though, Dallas won 16 of 18 games and, eventually, advanced to the NBA Finals – against the Celtics and, ironically, Porzingis.

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd called the Finals rematch “just another game,” but acknowledged that all games against elite teams are measuring sticks, especially as Dallas continues to play short-handed.

Starters Doncic, Dereck Lively II and Klay Thompson and rotation players Naji Marshall and Jaden Hardy missed Thursday’s game in Oklahoma City, yet the Mavericks (24-21) defeated the Thunder (36-8) for the third time this season.

It also stopped a string of recent close losses, by one point to Minnesota; by three points at New Orleans; by five points at Charlotte. Against the Thunder, Dallas got key contributions from surprise starter Kessler Edwards, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Maxi Kleber.

“I think the next step for us to evolve is to keep that consistent,” said Irving, who scored 24 points and played 39 minutes, one night after playing 38 minutes in a 36-point performance against Minnesota.

“Obviously, we’re not all going to score, probably, what we did tonight,” Irving added. “But we’ve got to maintain that offensive prowess, take our time to find the matchups we want. And take care of the ball. Our margin for error is not as large as other teams’.

On the injury front, fortunately, there was some good news as Thompson (left ankle sprain) and Hardy (right ankle sprain) have been upgraded to questionable for Saturday’s game, though Marshall (illness) and Dwight Powell (right hip strain) remain out.

How thin is Dallas’ margin, especially at center? When Gafford got hit in the back of the neck with 5:16 left in the first half against OKC and lay face down, barely moving for several minutes, Kidd pondered his limited options.

“That was tough,” Kidd said. “I’m thinking, ‘OK, Maxi’s on a minutes-restriction (20) and now Markieff’s got to step in, and maybe we play P.J. [Washington] at the five.”

Markieff Morris played four solid minutes, Kleber made several key plays in his 19 minutes of court time and all Washington did was dominate the Thunder with 22 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.

Kidd called it a “character” win, perhaps Dallas’ best of the season, adding “This is something for us to build on and hopefully get better from it.”

No, Saturday’s rematch against the Celtics probably won’t be reminiscent of last June’s finals, but a positive Doncic update on Saturday or the coming days would give the Mavericks an emotional boost.

And a glimmer of hope that when they see the Celtics again in 12 days, Humpty Dumpty will be closer to being whole again.

Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.