The Dallas Mavericks had their home opener on Saturday night, but unfortunately for Mavericks fans, both Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving would miss the game.
Flagg came down on his shoulder after a hard foul from Aaron Nesmith in transition, and the Mavericks announced on Saturday that he has a mild shoulder sprain and will be re-evaluated next week.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are still being cautious with Irving as he works back into playing shape after his ACL injury. With this being the second night of a back-to-back, they decided to sit him.
That left the Mavericks with a skeleton crew against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, who were still searching for their first win of the season.
You'd think the Spurs would enter desperate and put the Mavs away early, but this game was anything but.
Naji Marshall had a strong first quarter with 9 points, getting the nod as the starting point guard. He was able to keep the ball moving well enough to counter 9 points from Stephon Castle and 8 from Devin Vassell.
With Flagg and Irving out, head coach Dusty May knew they would need more playmaking, so 25th overall pick Sergio De Larrea got real playing time for the first time in his career. He made the most of it, scoring 11 points in the second quarter, finding a lot of success with a nice floater.
That kept the Mavs in it, even though the Spurs were up 8 at the break.
It looked like the Spurs were going to run away with it in the third quarter as they built the lead up to 14 after a lob from Victor Wembanyama just four minutes into the second half. Once again, De Larrea brought the Mavs back to life, this time with the help of Marcus Sasser. They scored the majority of the points in a 13-2 run that gave the Mavericks an 85-84 lead with two minutes left in the quarter.
The Spurs would get the lead back by the end of the quarter, but the Mavericks were right there.
Daniel Gafford started the quarter with a layup to cut the lead to 1, but the Spurs immediately went on an 11-0 run, trying to put their stamp on the game. A few minutes later, the Spurs built a 15-point lead, their largest lead of the game.
This time, the Mavericks wouldn't have an answer, and the Spurs would win, 122-106, but the game was closer than the final score would indicate.
Here are three things we learned about the Mavericks in this game.
Sergio De Larrea Needs to Play More
Sergio De Larrea had an impressive preseason, to the point where some thought that he had secured a spot in the rotation as the primary backup guard.
That ended up not being the case, but Marcus Sasser has made the most of his opportunity.
Saturday was De Larrea's first real playing time of the season, and he was electric, finishing with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
He was confident driving to the basket, shot the ball extremely well, and handled the ball in the pick-and-roll better than anyone else on the roster. If he's showing these kinds of signs already, it would only help the Mavericks to have him play more.
Dusty May: Challenge Master?
It's been only three games, but Dusty May is a perfect 5/5 on challenges now.
Surely he won't stay 100% forever, but he's picking and choosing them correctly. There was even a call that he probably could've won on a challenge against the Pacers on Friday, but decided against it because there were only two seconds left on the shot clock.
Mavericks got the ball back, and he was able to use that challenge on a more crucial call later in the game. He just has great situational awareness, which you would think every coach has, but that isn't always the case.
Max Christie Will Never Be More Than a Role Player
This would've been a great game for Max Christie to showcase some more offensive abilities, but he was pretty terrible, frankly.
Christie finished with just 5 points on 2/9 shooting and had the worst plus/minus of the game at -22. While he added five rebounds and two blocks, it just never felt like he was that impactful in this game.
For the Mavericks to raise their ceiling long-term around Cooper Flagg, they'll probably have to upgrade Christie's spot. Hopefully, Sergio De Larrea just develops into a good enough player so that he can constantly share the floor with Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg.
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