With the Dallas Mavericks’ third preseason game in the books following Thursday night’s 129-127 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at American Airlines Center, coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged that he got “on a lot of levels” what he was looking for from his team in the three exhibitions.
“We learned some things about our guys and got a chance to work on chemistry, work on playing together, work on defending together, work on playing offense together,” Carlisle said. “I’m going to be positive about it.
“I think there are things we could be doing better right now, but that’s why we’ve got four more days of practice before we play. All in all, I thought it was fine.”
After a pair of wins over the highly-regarded Milwaukee Bucks – coupled with the razor-thin setback to the Timberwolves — the Mavs completed preseason play with a 2-1 record. Now it’s on to the regular season on Wednesday in Phoenix when they battle the Suns.
Entering the regular season, forward Maxi Kleber is already raving about the “great chemistry” the Mavs have enjoyed throughout training camp and the preseason. He cited the offseason acquisitions of shooting guard Josh Richardson – he scored 13 points against Minnesota on 5-of-8 shooting – and forward James Johnson as two valuable pieces who should help the Mavs reach the playoffs for the second year in a row.
“You can already tell everyone is supporting everyone, especially the bench,” said Kleber, who finished with 14 points and four blocked shots in only 17 minutes. “Whenever somebody makes a shot, everyone gets hyped. Guys like James Johnson and J. Rich – great vets – came here and are helping everyone talk to everybody.
“They are making people talk on the court when it comes to defense. They are also trying to help out and tell younger guys that haven’t been in the league that long what to do. We are going to have a lot of time (together) this year as a team, so team chemistry is a big thing because things that we can do are limited. It’s going to be key to have good chemistry.”
The Mavs know they had chances to win Thursday’s game, but winning wasn’t exactly a priority. Getting a good look at the players near the end of the roster was a must, which is why Luka Doncic — he had 20 points, five rebounds and seven assists — and the other starters were on the bench when the game was hanging in the balance.
Still, the Mavs nearly pulled this one out. But a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds left by backup center Boban Marjanovic went halfway down and rimmed right back out.
“For Boban, it was a wide-open shot,” said Tim Hardaway, who contributed 18 points and six rebounds. “He makes that shot, so we were happy that he got that look.
“In and out probably says a lot about how the game went for us tonight on that end of the floor. A lot of easy and open ones that we wanted to go in and drop.”
The Mavs were an impressive 20-of-44 from downtown for 45.5 percent, which is one reason they were able to open up a 96-79 lead with 35.3 seconds remaining in the third quarter following triples from Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Courtney Lee.
“We all can shoot,” said Finney-Smith, who finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks. “Pretty much everybody shoots threes on our team now — that’s what makes us hard to guard.
“We spread the floor and we can keep Luka (Dončić) in the paint. Our guards can stay in the paint and we’re just ready to shoot. Most defenses collide when you attack the paint. That’s what coach always talks about — win the paint game and they’re going to give us our shots.”
For the Mavs, Richardson continued his torrid shooting. Overall, he was 5-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the 3-point line. In the three preseason games, Richardson has made 11 of his 15 shots from 3-point range while also being steady as a rock on the defensive end of the floor.
“I like Josh on both sides of the ball,” Carlisle said. “He’s a better shooter than a lot of people think. Defensively, he has a presence. He can guard a lot of different positions and I like his length.
“I think he and Luka have a good connection. I’m really excited to have him on board with us and I think he’s going to have a terrific year.”
Thursday’s contest was the first time owner Mark Cuban attended a Mavs game since his squad destroyed the Denver Nuggets, 113-97, back on March 11 at AAC in the very last game before the season was halted due to the coronavirus. Sitting near midcourt, Cuban said of Thursday’s game: “Love it. I’m so excited, you have to idea.”
The game was played without fans in the stands, but DJ Poizon Ivy kept the place rocking with a lot of music. Still, the players knew it was odd playing without fans in the AAC.
Last season the Mavs broke Portland’s NBA record of 814 combined consecutive regular season and playoff games sold out.
“Since we played in the bubble, we already knew what to kind of expect,” Finney-Smith said. “We knew the bench has to be in it.
“Whoever’s bench is in it the most is going to have the most energy — that’s all we’ve been trying to do.
Playing in an empty arena is tough, but they do a good job trying to keep it loud at least.”
With the regular season set to start less than a week away, the Mavs say they are gearing up for what they hope will be a long run in the playoffs.
“I’m excited,” Finney-Smith said. “I feel like we’ve got a great group of guys, especially with the new guys.
“They’ve all been here and we all want one thing. That’s to win and get back to the playoffs and win the championship.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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