The Dallas Mavericks 2017-18 season got off to a rough start on Wednesday night with a 117-111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at the American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks had a chance to tie or take the lead down 113-111 late in the fourth, but a 24-second violation and a key rebound combined with two free throws from Taurean Prince helped seal the deal for the Hawks. Dallas suffered on the boards and, despite Rick Carlisle saying it was a point of emphasis in the offseason, it cost them down the stretch.

The Mavericks, coming off only their second non-playoff season of Dirk Nowitzki’s tenure, started off the game with a bang as Wesley Matthews fed high-flying rookie Dennis Smith Jr. with an alley-oop that the rookie threw down with a bellow.

“I just went up and got it,” the rookie said.

He finished with 16 points and 10 assists and became the youngest Maverick to ever start an NBA game.

Dallas used the Smith Jr.’s energy, early buckets and distributive prowess to take an early 7-2 lead, but proceeded to miss its next six shots as the Hawks took control. Dennis Schroder took control early and was a problem all night for Dallas. He finished with a game-high 28 points.

Head coach Rick Carlisle said his team dug itself too big of a hole and didn’t have the energy to finish the job at the end, or play with an effort level he was satisfied with.

“That’s on me,” Carlisle said. “I didn’t do enough to have these guys ready to play.”

The cold shooting contributed to the Mavericks falling behind, 58-47, at the half but Nerlens Noel, fresh of signing his one-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer, showed off why he’s betting on himself and unrestricted free agency next summer. He had several spectacular defensive plays and a thunderous putback off a miss by Devin Harris, but was not present during the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Noel finished 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Carlisle opted to stay with Dwight Powell late in the game, at the request of Nowitzki given that Powell had hit of a couple of three-pointers.

“They were having trouble finding him,” Carlisle said of Powell. “These are tough calls. I tried to sub Dirk back in with three minutes left, but he said we should go with Dwight.”

In the third quarter, Dallas roared back with 35 points behind more energy from Smith Jr. Matthews also caught fire from deep during the Mavericks’ burst. He finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point territory.

Dallas had its chances down the stretch, but the Mavericks were unable to keep Atlanta off the offensive glass. The Hawks had 11 points off five offensive rebounds in the final frame and Marco Bellineli was another problem for Dallas. He finished with 20 points and several critical 3-pointers as the Hawks answered every Dallas charge late.

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