Encouraging moments were peppered throughout the Dallas Mavericks’ 106-89 preseason opening win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Monday. Recognizable rotation players dominated
the first half, while the likes of Mousa Cisse (three second-half blocked shots) and Miles Kelly made a case for themselves with a few second-half highlights. Jaden Hardy, playing with both the regulars and the end-of-the-bench bunch, logged 22 minutes to lead the team in time on the floor.
The Thunder were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Lugentz Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins in the team’s second preseason game, while the Mavs were without Kyrie Irving, Daniel Gafford, Dante Exum, Brandon Williams and Dennis Smith Jr. in Dallas’ first of four on the preseason slate.
While, as a result, it’s hard to take too seriously anything that happened on the floor in Fort Worth on Monday, some of what we saw was positive and repeatable. Here are three key stats from the win.
3: Back-cut assists from D’Angelo Russell to Max Christie
The on-court chemistry between D’Angelo Russell and Cormac Karl “Max” Christie, both former Los Angeles Lakers, was visible from the moment Christie came in off the bench in the first quarter. Christie scored 12 points in his first 10 minutes on the floor, twice on nice finds from Russell on back cuts and getting two more points at the free-throw line on another one.
The backcourt tandem played together for two-plus years in LA before Christie was moved to the Mavericks in the Luka Dončić trade and Russell went to the Brooklyn Nets for the second half of last season. Christie’s running lay-in from Russell with 7:43 left in the second quarter gave Russell his fifth assist and put the Mavs up 44-27 at the time. Dallas would extend the lead to as many as 30 points over the thinnest Oklahoma City roster you’ll see all year before taking a 66-40 lead into halftime.
10: Cooper Flagg points in one span of 2:38
Cooper Flagg started the game with a big blocked shot, vaulting from the back side of the play to get a finger on Isaiah Joe’s cutting layup attempt just 1:25 into the first quarter. He missed his first two shot attempts, but made three of four to end the first half, scoring his first 10 points of the preseason in a span of 2:38 late in the second.
Flagg drove for an up-and-under dipsy-do in the lane to put the Mavs up 51-32 with 5:32 left in the first half, then rose up for a smooth 3-pointer from the right wing the next time down the floor to give Dallas a 54-32 advantage. Two minutes later, he pulled up on the left side for another 3-ball that was just as smooth. Flagg’s jumper looked a lot better against Oklahoma City than it did in his two Summer League appearances. It’s good to see progress being made there.
30-12: Dallas’ first half paint points advantage
The Mavs are an absolutely massive team, and they played a version of the Thunder on Monday that they’ll likely never see again, but it’s still encouraging to see Dallas get off to a good start going to the bucket. The Mavericks outscored the Thunder 30-12 in the paint in the first half, before the second half devolved into a rock fight between guys who aren’t long for their lives in the NBA.
The Mavs defended the paint well all night, blocking 11 Oklahoma City shot attempts in the win. Eight different Mavericks recorded a blocked shot in the win, led by Cisse’s three in the second half.
On offense, P.J. Washington, who was left out of the starting lineup in favor of Klay Thompson at the two and Cooper Flagg at the three, drove through traffic to get to the bucket a few times. Christie worked the back-cuts well, as mentioned earlier. Anthony Davis found success with a turnaround jumper from 10 feet away.
You can’t teach or develop size, and the Mavs have it. The next step is to find a way to use what they have to their advantage consistently.
