DALLAS – It’s not a definite that forward Harrison Barnes will be healthy enough to play when the Dallas Mavericks open the regular season on Oct. 17 in Phoenix.
Barnes missed the Mavs’ first three preseason games with a strained right hamstring and will not play in the team’s preseason finale on Friday at 6 p.m. against Charlotte at American Airlines Center. And then, after Wednesday’s practice at the Lympo practice facilities, coach Rick Carlisle had this to say about Barnes.
“He’s improving – very light court work and no running – so we’ll see,” Carlisle said. “His availability for opening night is going to depend on whether he can get some significant live practice in before then, and we just don’t know right now.
“He’s not going to play in any games until he gets some significant practice time beforehand.”
Barnes led the Mavs in scoring two years ago with 19.2 points and last year with 18.9 points. But with the Mavs running an offense where more players are touching the ball because more players are capable of scoring, his loss takes on a new meaning.
“Hey listen, I don’t want to talk about scoring averages or any of that crap,” Carlisle said. “I don’t expect there to be super high scorers on this team.
“For us to be good were going to have to have balance and the ball’s going to have to move. So I don’t want to hear about scoring stats – individual scoring stats.”
Dorian Finney-Smith started the first three preseason games in Barnes’ absence. Meanwhile, when the Mavs don’t have Barnes on the court, how does it affect what they’re trying to do on the offensive end of the floor?”
“Our style is way different than last year, so the answer is we don’t know, because he hasn’t been out there yet, other than a few practices in the beginning,” Carlisle said. “So we’ve got to keep moving forward with the guys that are available.
“He’s one of our top players and probably our best player. And he’s smart and he’ll figure it out and he’ll thrive in this system, because it’s going to take pressure off him.”
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