Williams, Matthews make debut, but Mavericks finish preseason winless

That sneak preview the Dallas Mavericks finally got from Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews on Friday night was a welcome sight.

The Chicago Bulls, however, stole the celebration by pulling out a dramatic 103-102 win over the Mavs before a sellout crowd of 15,297 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The loss meant the Mavs (0-7) were the only NBA team that didn’t win a preseason game this fall.

But that mattered not to the Mavs, who saw Williams and Matthews play in their first preseason game since Dallas acquired them over the off-season via free agency. Williams had been shelved with a strained right calf, and Matthews was recovering from surgery on his left Achilles tendon.

With the regular-season opener slated for Wednesday in Phoenix, they were able to give the Mavs just a snapshot of what they’re capable of doing.

“I like the way they played, considering that Deron’s been out most of training camp,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “His rhythm was unexpectedly good, all things considered.

“Wes played the way he’s been playing the last week and a half of practice, with a lot of grit and a lot of skill. Having those two guys out there was very important tonight, and they did a really good job.

Both Williams and Matthews played 16 minutes, all in the first half. And both had already departed from the locker room by the time the media was allowed inside.

Williams finished with six points and four assists, and was 1 of 4 from the field. Matthews scored seven points and had a pair of steals, and was 3 of 6 from the field.

Carlisle started Raymond Felton in the backcourt with Williams, and Matthews played small forward. The other two starters were Dirk Nowitzki and Zaza Pachulia.

“The way he was moving, he looked like himself,” Felton said of Williams. “He was dishing the ball, he was crossing people over, he looked good.

“For them not playing at all preseason, I think both of those guys looked real good.”

Matthews scored all seven of his points less than four minutes into the second quarter. Williams had three of his assists in the first period.

The Mavs appeared to have the game won when John Jenkins made a 3-pointer from the right corner to give Dallas a 102-101 lead with only five seconds left. However, Doug McDermott, a hometown favorite who attended college about an hour away at Creighton, sank a fallaway 15-footer with one second remaining.

“I wanted to shoot the pull-up 3 at the top of the key, but I passed it off and cut through and Jamil [Wilson] found me for a good shot,” said Jenkins, who scored 13 points. “I knew it was in right away. I knew when it left my hand it felt great.”

McDermott, however, stole Jenkins’ thunder four seconds later.

“That’s just a hell of a basketball player hitting a tremendously difficult shot over one of our best defenders,” Carlisle said. “I put Jamil Wilson out there as one of our best defenders on our entire team.

“You take your hat off in that situation, and sometimes NBA games come down to who gets the last shot off. He’s a local kid, and it’s a really special moment for him.”

Although his team didn’t win the game, Carlisle also knows it was a special moment to have Williams and Matthews on the court for the first time this preseason.

“That group is going to play well together,” Carlisle said. “It’s going to be a really good group once we get them all together and get them out there for some extended minutes. But tonight was a real good step in the right direction.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Williams, Matthews make debut, but Mavericks finish preseason winless."