The Dallas Mavericks are going to spend plenty of time managing their rotation this season, and on Saturday night they got a reminder of why that matters. With Kyrie Irving sitting out and Cooper Flagg also unavailable, the Mavericks leaned on their depth in a 122-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
The biggest bright spot came from Spanish rookie Sergio de Larrea, who delivered 21 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench. Dallas needed that kind of punch after winning its first game of the season over the Indiana Pacers on Friday, then turning around for the first back-to-back on the league’s most back-to-back-heavy schedule in the 2026-27 NBA season.
De Larrea accounted for 21 of the Mavericks’ 51 bench points, and first-year coach Dusty May came away impressed with what he saw. “I thought he was great,” May said about Dallas' second of its two first-round picks.
“In hindsight, I wish we could have gotten him to a point where he could have gotten the catches and not had to initiate the offense and break [Stephon] Castle’s pressure. But I thought he was great.
I mean, his defense is improving. I thought his on-ball defense got better.
He was chasing down long rebounds. He came up with five rebounds, four assists.”
That work came against a Spurs group featuring Castle and Devin Vassell, a rare combination of offensive and defensive length, with second-year player Dylan Harper adding another energetic challenge. Even for a rookie who has already spent years in professional basketball, nights like this come with some rough edges.
Still, de Larrea’s size gives Dallas something different behind Irving and Marcus Sasser, two smaller guards. May said the Mavericks can keep mixing up playmaking duties when a traditional point guard isn’t on the floor, and de Larrea’s growing confidence could help him settle into that role alongside P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall.
“It’s just to be prepared,” de Larrea said about his progression. “I think all of us are connected. We want the best for the team, and all of us are connected to do the best performance possible.
“Today it was me, probably, but other days are other guys, and that is, I think, is what made this team special. All of us, I think, can do great performances, but at the end, we are helping the team.”
Irving is back after tearing his ACL in March 2025, and the Mavericks are expected to be cautious with his workload, especially on back-to-backs, as long as they stay in the playoff picture. Flagg’s shoulder injury from the win in Indianapolis only added to the challenge.
May sounded unconcerned about the absences, pointing instead to the players who were available. “You figure it out,” he said about his lineup management.
“I mean, we have good players. I mean, I’m very, very confident with the guys that you see.
… So we’re not going into this focused on who we don’t have playing, but more of who is playing and how can we help them. And it’s exciting to see them in a different role as well, to have an opportunity to do more.”
In Other News...
Spurs May Have Found Something Mavericks Fans Wont Like
San Antonio finally looked like a team that had found some footing, and it came at Dallas expense on a night when the Spurs were searching for their first win of the 2026-27 season. The energy level was different from their opening two losses, with head coach Mitch Johnson pointing to a sharper collective effort and a more consistent approach as the foundation for the turnaround.
For Mavericks fans, the frustrating part is that the Spurs did not stumble into this one, they seemed to earn it by doing the little things better. Johnson liked the way his team hustled, rebounded and defended, and he sounded convinced there is more to build on from here, which makes this feel less like a one-off and more like the first sign of a team finding its identity. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Just Took Another Ugly Step In The Wrong Direction
The Mavericks latest stumble came at the hands of a Spurs team that looked more composed when the game tightened, and the result only deepened the sense that Dallas is searching for answers. San Antonios 122-106 win was built around Victor Wembanyama, who led all scorers with 23 points to go with seven rebounds and four blocks, while Dylan Harper and DeAaron Fox gave the Spurs steady production in the backcourt.
For Dallas, the frustrating part was not just the final margin but how the game slipped away once San Antonio started to settle in. The Spurs finished with a strong defensive push in the closing stretch, and the Mavericks were left trying to recover from another night in which the effort to keep pace never quite matched the urgency needed to turn the game around. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Suddenly Look Far Better Equipped Behind Kyrie Irving
The Mavericks entered the season with a clear question behind Kyrie Irving, and the early answer has at least looked more encouraging than expected. Dallas has added Walter Clayton Jr. and leaned on Sergio De Larrea and Marcus Sasser to stabilize the point guard minutes, giving the backcourt a different kind of energy and, more importantly, some real production off the bench.
De Larrea offered the loudest reminder in a recent game against the Spurs, flashing scoring touch and playmaking in a strong all-around effort. Sasser has also given Dallas useful minutes through the first few games, and together the two have helped the Mavericks look far better equipped in the spots where they were once most vulnerable. The bigger question now is whether that depth holds when the schedule gets tougher and the rotation tightens. [Read more 🡒]