Not much went right for the Mavericks in their 128-110 season-opening loss to the Houston Rockets, but Marcus Sasser gave Dallas something to hang onto. In a game where the offense looked just as shaky as it did a year ago and the new-look defense didn’t slow Houston down much, Sasser flashed exactly the kind of pop the Mavericks have been missing.
He finished with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and hit 4-of-5 from deep, the only Dallas player to make more than two 3-pointers. He also gave the Mavericks one of their few reliable sources of offense off the dribble.
In 24 minutes, he ended the night at plus/minus zero despite the 18-point defeat. For an opening-night showing, that counts as a strong start.
Dallas’ need for someone who can create his own shot was obvious before the season, but one game in, it looks much more urgent. Outside of Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving - who is still rounding into form - and maybe Naji Marshall, the Mavericks don’t have many players who can regularly generate offense on their own. If the conversation is narrowed to self-created shots from behind the arc, Irving was basically the only name on the list.
Sasser changes that. The 6-foot-1 guard came to Dallas as a throw-in in the massive six-team trade that sent him from Detroit to the Mavericks, but after one game he already looks like one of the club’s most useful offseason additions. Santi Aldama, who arrived in the same deal from Memphis, is the more established player, though he did not suit up in the opener and could miss a few more games.
Even when Aldama does get back, he doesn’t bring quite the same package. He can chip in as a shot creator and a shooter, but he’s a 7-footer and a career 34.6 percent 3-point shooter. Sasser offers something different: quicker ball handling, more nimble off-the-dribble scoring, and cleaner spot-up shooting.
That matters even more because Dallas’ guard room is thin. Brandon Williams and Ryan Nembhard are gone, Irving is still working back from an ACL injury, and the only other newcomer in the backcourt was rookie Sergio de Larrea, who had never played an NBA game before opening night.
Sasser was always going to have a role. The real question was how big it would be.
After the opener, the answer is pretty clear. The Mavericks need him, and they need his shooting and ball-handling in a hurry. He was on the floor for half the game because Dallas didn’t have many other answers, and he made that time count with 17 points and four made 3s.
What started as an overlooked offseason addition is quickly turning into a major part of Dallas’ rotation. The Mavericks still have plenty to sort out, but Sasser already looks like someone they’ll be leaning on heavily.
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The game itself offered a mixed early read on that partnership, especially with reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg now in the mix. Irving was on the floor for only 24 minutes and never returned for the fourth quarter in the loss to Houston, leaving the Mavericks with one obvious question to carry into the next stretch of the season: how quickly can this version of the team get its best players on the same page? [Read more 🡒]