Rust is real

When the NBA announced that teams were mandated to play three preseason games I was initially skeptical.

In a pandemic? Is is really worth playing games that have no meaning?

Turns out, it is.

Last year, we grew accustomed to watching the most efficient offense in the history of the NBA game. It was beautiful to see the precision and skill bend the defense to their will. And with limited roster shuffling, we expected it to be somewhat similar.

But the first 15-to-20 minutes of this game was anything but. There were multiple air-balls, some missed dunks, and several turnovers. The teams combined, COMBINED, for 40 points in the first quarter. Incredibly uncharacteristic of two of the better execution teams in the league.

Players don’t like to make excuses, but Luka certainly saw it as a factor.

”First preseason game, you guys saw it…we weren’t very good,” he said.

 

The defense was…good?

It should be noted that this point and the previous one go hand-in-hand, but we have to give some credit for the defensive effort right?

For a team whose sole purpose in the offseason was to improve defensively, they should feel great about the first outing.

Head Coach Rick Carlisle does.

“I thought we were pretty good tonight,” Carlisle said before noting the offensive struggles instead. “In today’s game, if you’re going to be a good defensive team, it starts with your perimeter defense and we feel we’ve improved there.”

For one of the leagues elite offenses to score only 102 points on a defense with a lot of new pieces, that’s impressive. They also did a very good job containing the two-time MVP on the other side.

That’s what this team needs. If they can string performances like that together consistently, they’re going to be a nightmare.

Depth is this teams strength

To be fair, I would have told you this before the year even started. I loved the team’s draft, their offseason trade deals, and thought they filled some holes in free agency. This coupled with an already good bench and you’re really working with something.

Tonight’s performance just underscores those things. The bench with the exception of two roster long-shots in Gillespie and Patterson were all in the positive. They won the third quarter, one where no Mavericks starter played, by a score of 38-15. They totaled nearly 40 more bench points than the Bucks.

You’ve potentiality got a roster here with 13 or 14 playable guys. That’s crucial in any year, but especially one like this.