What looked like a shaky spot on the Mavericks’ roster before the 2026-27 season is starting to look a lot more secure. The concern was simple: who would handle the point guard duties behind Kyrie Irving?
Dallas opened with Marcus Sasser and Sergio De Larrea as the only true point guards on the roster, and later added Walter Clayton Jr. on a two-way deal. Even then, the question lingered.
Saturday night offered a strong answer.
With Irving sitting out after Dallas’ win over the Indiana Pacers the night before, De Larrea took center stage in the home opener against the San Antonio Spurs. It was his first regular-season game at the American Airlines Center, and he made it feel like a breakthrough. De Larrea posted 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, a clear sign he’s ready for rotation minutes after logging just eight minutes combined across the first two games.
The shotmaking stood out right away. De Larrea went 3-for-4 from deep and looked completely settled into the offense.
Even against some of San Antonio’s top perimeter defenders, he kept finding his spots, letting threes come naturally within the flow and getting all the way to the paint when the lane opened. The floaters were there too, and he kept knocking them down with a confidence that matched the moment.
Dusty May needs to play him moving forward.
Sasser has been steady from the start, too. Through three games, he’s averaging 11.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 59.1 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range. He’s given Dallas real scoring punch, whether it’s coming off the catch or creating off the dribble, and the floater has been another useful piece in his arsenal.
Against the Spurs, Sasser finished with 12 points, three rebounds and five assists. He and De Larrea were the only two non-starters to score at least 10 points, and both played major roles in keeping the game tight for three quarters.
That’s where things get even more interesting for Dallas. Sasser and De Larrea spent time together on the floor, and the fit showed up quickly. De Larrea was clear about how he sees the pairing.
”I think we do a good duo at the end,” De Larrea said. “He can release the pressure…spread the court, he can shoot, he’s making a lot of threes, so for me, it’s very good to have this kind of teammates to pass to them and be sure they are making shots.”
De Larrea’s 6-foot-6 size and Sasser’s 6-foot-1 combo of spacing and versatility give the Mavericks something they didn’t seem to have in the early days of the season: a bench backcourt with real teeth. They may not share as many minutes once Cooper Flagg and Irving are both in the lineup, but Saturday made one thing clear. Dallas’ guard depth behind Irving is no longer the issue it once looked like.
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 Look Vindicated As Backcourt Pressure Builds Early
The Mavericks decision to slow-walk extensions for some of their young pieces looks a little more defensible after the first week of the season. Dallas has kept its options open with players such as Max Christie, who remains under contract control for a while longer with a player option in 2027-28, and the early returns have made the evaluation process feel even more important. Christie has had a rough opening stretch, and the broader backcourt picture has already started to shift as the season settles in.
At the same time, other guards are making their case for more of the spotlight. Marcus Sasser and Sergio De Larrea have both flashed enough early to keep the conversation moving, which is exactly the kind of internal pressure that can reshape a rotation before November gets too far along. For Dallas, the question is no longer just which young guards can help now, but which ones are forcing the front office and coaching staff to rethink how this backcourt is going to look. [Read more 🡒]