Rookie Smith impresses in debut but Mavs come up short

Aging veteran basketball may be a thing of the past in downtown Dallas in the coming years, but American Airlines Center fans got a glimpse of how a fine wine might age throughout the next 81 games Wednesday night.

Beginning his 20th season in a Mavericks’ uniform, future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki started alongside 2017 first-round pick Dennis Smith Jr. in the Mavs’ season opener Wednesday, but Dallas came up on the short end of a 117-111 loss to the visiting Atlanta Hawks.

And Nowitzki wasn’t on the floor in the clutch part of the final six minutes of a tight game.

He made a shooting cameo in the final :15, but couldn’t get open for a look with his team down four points.

Dennis Schroder had 28 points and Marco Belinelli had 20 to lead the way for the Hawks, a team that finished fifth in the Eastern Conference last season.

The Mavs were within two points in the final :35, but couldn’t get a stop to close the deal.

Not being on the floor down the stretch, might be a new norm, but Nowitzki was sluggish from the perimeter, going just 2-for-10 in the first half.

The Dennis Smith Jr. era got off to a thunderous start as the former North Carolina State star scored 16 points, had 10 assists and threw down a crowd-pleasing alley-oop from Wes Matthews on Dallas’ first possession.

He scored the team’s first two buckets before Nowitzki wound up near the top of the key to bury his first 3-pointer of the season.

After that, things soured for Nowitzki’s season opener.

For Smith, the significance of his NBA debut wasn’t lost.

“I’ve got some butterflies and I’m a little nervous,” he said prior to tip Wednesday. “It’s a different kind of nervous though than what I experienced in college. I don’t really calm them down, but as soon as I get contact with somebody, I’m good.”

Still, it was a chance to see how Nowitzki, a veteran NBA title holder and former MVP, would work with a younger and quicker rotation.

For the most part, head coach Rick Carlisle kept the tempo down when the organization’s all-time leading scorer was on the floor.

But having Smith, Yogi Ferrell, Harrison Barnes and Matthews start created advantages in moving the basketball.

Matthews got his first buckets of the season on back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter to give the Mavericks a 69-68 lead at the 5:35 mark.

But poor shooting by Nowitzki and Barnes dampened the offense. and Smith’s assist numbers.

The duo was 5-21 from the floor through the third quarter.

Nerlens Noel helped make up the difference, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

In the near term, some concern could creep in on the health of Smith’s ankle. He came off the floor limping in the second quarter but managed to return before the half.

Smith scored nine points in a third-quarter rally when the Mavericks made up an 11-point halftime deficit.

The rotations used Wednesday made it clear Dallas is young enough now to run with some of the NBA’s elite and the Mavericks showed that. But head coach Rick Carlisle insisted his team is far from solidon offense.

“If we can’t stop them on defense, we’re not going to do anything on offense,” Carlisle said prior the season opener.

Nowitzki, who insisted during training camp that this team could compete for a spot in the playoffs, might have a point.

Despite poor shooting from the team’s two top scorers from last season, seven players scored in double figures and the team shot 44.2% from the floor.

This story was originally published October 18, 2017 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Rookie Smith impresses in debut but Mavs come up short."