Five Mavericks don’t make trip as games begin with preseason loss

With five of their top players not even on this road trip, the Dallas Mavericks knew they were going to have a difficult time trying to win their preseason opener against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Thus, the Mavs’ 116-102 loss to the Pelicans before 6,752 at CenturyLink Center was less about the final score but more about what they were able to accomplish on Saturday night.

Coach Rick Carlisle said: “There were some positive things.’’

At the top of that list, Carlisle was pleased with the play of wing player Justin Anderson in the second half. The second-year veteran had just two points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half, but buried three 3-pointers less than five minutes into the third quarter and finished with a team-high 14 points and five boards.

“I thought Anderson’s first half was very subpar for what he’s capable of, and he really made an impact in the second half,” Carlisle said. “Defensively, in the first half there were some uncharacteristic things happening out there.

“In the second half he got into it on the defensive end, and then his offense got going.”

Guard Seth Curry also drew praise from Carlisle. Curry scored 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, and also made 2 of 3 buckets from downtown.

“I thought he was good in both halves, I thought his defense picked up as the game went along,” Carlisle said. “We know he’s a guy that can explode at the offensive end.

“It’s going to come down to his ability to really sit down and grind on defense.”

Curry looked extremely comfortable scoring while coming off screens.

“It feels good, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here,” Curry said. “Coach told me he wants me to be versatile, run off screens, playing off the ball like I did a lot in the first half, and then in the second half handle the ball at the point.

“I’m just trying to do whatever they want me to do out there and trying to make an impact on the floor.”

Dwight Powell led all rebounders with seven, and also tallied nine points in 19 minutes for the Mavs.

“Tonight he only played [center], and we’re going to have to give him some [power forward] minutes,” Carlisle said. “But he’s tenacious out there — he goes after everything.

“The other thing I really liked about his game tonight is he played very aggressively without getting into quick foul trouble.”

Powell converted 3 of 7 baskets, and like any player, was more concerned about the ones he missed, especially since he was wide open on two attempts from the perimeter.

“I’ve got to finish those shots,” Powell said. “J.J. [Barea] set me up perfect — I just got to step into them and shot them with confidence.”

Rookie free agent Nicolas Brussino also caught Carlisle’s attention with his solid all-round play. The Argentina native scored 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting in 23 minutes.

“I saw him practice with the [Argentina] Olympic team in Las Vegas this summer, I talked to his coach, I talked to Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola about him and they all said the same thing,” Carlisle said. “That he’s a great competitor, he’s a lot tougher than he looks because his frame is slight and he still hasn’t put on all the strength that he’s going to, and he really knows how to play the game.

“He did a lot of terrific things — he’s going to make shots and he’s an excellent shooter. I thought he battled hard out there.”

Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, Wesley Matthews, Andrew Bogut and Devin Harris didn’t even make the trip to Northeast Louisiana. And Salah Mejri didn’t play as he continues to recover from off-season right-knee surgery.

That left veterans such as Barea and Harrison Barnes to toe the line for the Mavs. Barea collected eight points (4-of-11 shooting) and three assists, and Barnes added 12 points, hitting 3 of 8 shots.

“I was moving pretty good out there,” said Barea, who only played the first half. “I felt good and in good rhythm, and it was good to get that first game out of the way.”

Before he departed, Barea lobbed a perfectly timed pass to Powell for an alley-oop dunk. It was reminiscent of the connection they executed in practice Thursday.

Meanwhile, Barnes also played only 18 first-half minutes and looked very fluid in his first game with the Mavs after signing a four-year, $94 million contract in July.

“We’ve had some battles in practice, so it was good to finally beat up on somebody else,” Barnes said. “Just whenever the opportunity arises, just to try to be aggressive and look for my shot.”

The Mavs led 22-21 after the first half, but trailed 58-46 at the half and 86-78 after the third quarter. Dallas, who plays host to Charlotte on Monday at 7:30 p.m., shot 42.9 percent from the field, tuned the ball over just 10 times, but got outrebounded 44-36.

“I think we have a lot of room to improve, obviously,” Powell said. “I think we need to get more focus on the defensive end and get more on a string and get together.

“But I think the potential is there and I like the energy that we played with.”

This story was originally published October 2, 2016 at 12:54 AM with the headline "Five Mavericks don’t make trip as games begin with preseason loss."