The Dallas Mavericks will try to notch their first win of the season as they travel to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Pacers Friday night. Opening night didn’t go the Mavericks’ way, as they lost to the Rockets in Houston Wednesday night. The Pacers, meanwhile, opened the season with a win against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Dallas faces a gauntlet in the first month of the season,which could make for a rough record early on. They have the second-strongest schedule in the first month of the season based
on winning percentages from last season. It’s jumping straight in the deep end for new head coach Dusty May.
Meanwhile, this will be Tyrese Haliburton’s first non-exhibition game back at Gainbridge Fieldhouse since June 19, 2025 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dallas should expect him to be focused and itching to have a great game back in front of the Indiana fans.
Here are three things to think about before the game:
Dusty May’s rotations
It’s a long season, and mid-October is super early, but May had some curious rotations in the first half of the Rockets game. May played 10 players in the first quarter alone in game one, and the combinations he used seemed to indicate he was feeling out which groups worked together. There’s nothing particularly wrong with that; again, it’s early. But personally, I’d prefer some outline of a rotation be worked out in the preseason, and then adjust from there.
This season has pretty low stakes, and May probably has some method to the rotation madness. My concern is also probably a reaction to former head coach Jason Kidd using the first two months of the season to play mad scientist with the lineups instead of finding something consistent. But it’s something worth keeping an eye on.
Mavericks have to get back on defense
The Pacers came into this season ready to run. Indiana outscored New Orleans 27-10 on fastbreak points on Wednesday. The Mavericks were outscored 29-17 by the Rockets. Dallas will need to focus on getting back on defense if they don’t want to be torched by Indiana.
One thing Dallas can do to cut down the fastbreak points allowed is by taking better care of the ball. The Mavericks turned the ball over 21 times against the Rockets, which led to 32 points allowed off turnovers. If they’re careless with the rock against the Pacers, it could produce live ball turnovers which will lead to easy fastbreak points.
Side-eye the shooting
Coming into the season, everyone expected the Mavericks to struggle to shoot the ball. The first game of the season didn’t do anything to assuage those doubts. Dallas shot 11-of-37 from behind the arc, and 17-of-26 from the charity stripe. It’s simplistic, but they have to get better outside shooting if they want to be competitive this season. They don’t have to be a great shooting team. That’s probably expecting too much from their personnel. But they do need to be around league average if they want to push to the higher range of their season’s success. One game isn’t enough of a sample size to be truly concerned, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
How to watch
The game tips off at 6 p.m. CDT on KFAA-TV Channel 29, Mavs TV, and NBA League Pass.
