FORT WORTH — After a full week of playing against each other, the Dallas Mavericks will finally get a chance to pit its re-tooled roster against another opponent.
The Mavericks will kick off their four-game preseason slate against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. They’ll use the remainder of their limited time ahead of their Oct. 22 regular season opener to prioritize their health and three key principles.
“The pace, offensively,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. “Second, the physicality. Third, just defense. This is a great test, no matter who’s playing for Oklahoma City. They’re the champs. They understand how to drive the ball and cause problems. It’ll be a test for individual defense, but also team defense. Those will be the three things I’m looking for.”
The Mavericks spent four days in Vancouver, British Columbia and instilled principles from their new offensive schemes, led by new assistant coach Jay Triano. Dallas relied on its primary creators in their backcourt to initiate offense in prior seasons, but the team wants to rely on constant ball movement while using Anthony Davis as a hub this season.
Mavericks
“We’re moving on the floor, we’re always agile, we’re not sitting there and just watching somebody back someone down or something like that,” Dereck Lively II said last week. “There’s a lot of movement.
“There’s a lot of rolling and trying to get to the next pass and trying to get to the next man, because we know if we keep swinging the ball, we’re going to get someone open without even realizing it.”
The Mavericks will need to be fully healthy to realize their full potential. They’ll be without Kyrie Irving for an extended period of time, but they’ll navigate life without Daniel Gafford for the majority of training camp and preseason.
Brandon Williams, Dante Exum and Dennis Smith Jr. were sidelined for Monday’s game in Fort Worth. It’s unclear if they will be available for Saturday’s game against Charlotte.
Kidd utilized a starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg, who made his unofficial Mavericks debut. While the final starting lineup hasn’t been finalized, it served as a good gauge for what direction the Mavericks could go in on opening night against the San Antonio Spurs.
“The energy has been extremely high and the competition has been extremely high so that’s one thing that has stood out in camp,” Kidd said, “but that’s the one thing that we’ll continue to talk about.”\
Back in action! See photos from the Mavericks’ preseason opener vs. the Thunder
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