The Dallas Mavericks had their full headline act back on the floor Friday night, but the preseason finale still ended the same way too many of these tune-up games have gone: with a familiar defensive mess and a lopsided loss.
Dallas fell 135-111 to the Atlanta Hawks at American Airlines Center, a result that showed both the promise and the problems inside this reshaped roster. Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg returned together, giving the Mavericks a look at the kind of pairing they hope can define the future. But Atlanta kept carving them up, and the gap was already wide by the time the game started to settle in.
The Hawks jumped out early, built a 73-54 halftime lead and pushed the margin to 101-78 after three quarters. Dallas never found a run big enough to make it uncomfortable for Atlanta, and the night became less about chemistry and more about how far the Mavericks still have to go on the defensive end.
There were bright spots, and they came from the players Dallas most wants to build around.
Irving showed the shot-making that has long been part of his game, drilling multiple three-pointers and continuing to look more comfortable after his lengthy recovery from a torn ACL. Flagg, meanwhile, brought energy in a few different areas.
He got downhill, attacked the basket, worked through contact and flashed the kind of playmaking ability that makes him such an important piece moving forward. He also contributed defensively.
Still, the positives were buried under the same issue that kept popping up all night: Dallas could not get enough stops.
Atlanta found room in transition and got clean looks from deep, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson causing problems for the Mavericks. The Hawks repeatedly took advantage of breakdowns, and Dallas never managed to stack defensive possessions together long enough to change the flow of the game.
That was the part that had to frustrate Dusty May most. He has spent training camp pushing the idea of a real defensive identity, and before the game he called Friday’s matchup the team’s best stand-in for the regular season.
"This will be the closest to a regular season game that we'll play just based on availability," May said Thursday.
Instead, the Mavericks got another reminder of the same issues they ran into Wednesday in a 101-97 loss to New Orleans, when inconsistency on offense and shaky shooting helped sink them again.
Now the preseason is over, and the focus shifts to Wednesday’s regular-season opener against the Houston Rockets. Dallas has enough offensive talent to be dangerous, especially with Irving and Flagg both in the mix. But until the defense starts holding up, the Mavericks are going to keep making life harder on themselves than it needs to be.
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