The Dallas Mavericks were looking for a bounce back after a "horrendous" showing, in Kyrie Irving's own words, against the Houston Rockets in the season opener on Wednesday.
Their second game was on the road against the Indiana Pacers, who beat the New Orleans Pelicans in their first game.
It may have been Tyrese Haliburton's first game back in Indiana since tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, but that would be overshadowed quickly.
It was a much better showing for the Mavs, and a complete turnaround from what we saw in their first game. They were down by 32 at halftime against the Rockets on Wednesday, but were up by 34 at halftime of this game.
The Mavericks scored 44 points in the first quarter, one of their best quarters in recent memory. Yet, at the end of the first half, Cooper Flagg had what looked to be an open dunk before Aaron Nesmith fouled him hard from behind, with Flagg coming down on his left shoulder. That led to a scuffle between Nesmith and Naji Marshall, with both players being assessed technical fouls.
Flagg would head to the locker room after shooting the free throws and would later be ruled out. That put pressure on the rest of the Mavericks to carry the load, especially as Kyrie Irving was dealing with foul trouble while already being on a minutes restriction.
The Pacers kept chipping away, making it a 13-point game late in the fourth before a loose-ball foul on Irving fouled him out for the game. The Mavericks would have to spend the final 4+ minutes without their two best players.
The lead wouldn't get below 13, as Naji Marshall and Max Christie made some tough plays to keep the Pacers at arm's length, giving the Mavericks their first win of the season, and Dusty May got his first win as a head coach, 121-105.
The Mavericks will be back in action tomorrow for their home opener against the San Antonio Spurs and may have to do it without Cooper Flagg. They'll obviously need him moving forward, but hopefully it's not too severe.
Here are three overreactions from this game.
Mavericks Have Something in Marcus Sasser
It's only been two games, but Marcus Sasser has looked good in both of them. There was some thought that 25th overall pick Sergio De Larrea had passed Sasser on the depth chart after a strong showing in the preseason, but the regular season has been all Sasser.
Sasser was one of the lone bright spots against the Rockets on Wednesday, putting up 17 points while shooting 4/5 from three.
He followed that up with another solid performance in this game, finishing with 6 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds, but his impact felt bigger than that. Both of his threes in the first half felt like daggers. As a rotational guard, he's been pretty good, and that's more than what could've been expected coming out of the preseason.
Stat Sheet Will Never Show Morez Johnson Jr.'s Impact
It's impressive how good Morez Johnson Jr. is as a defender already. He had a good game statistically, finishing with 8 points and 6 rebounds, but he was constantly in the right place.
There was one rep in the fourth quarter where he stayed home on multiple shot fakes, was brought out to the perimeter, but still contested the shot at the rim, and while the shot was still made over him, he did everything he possibly could've.
Johnson is quick to swipe his hands when someone on offense brings the ball low, hustles to get a long rebound, and is rarely out of position. He's going to be an All-Defensive player before too long.
Zaccharie Risacher is a Conundrum
Zaccharie Risacher is not a good offensive player at this stage in his career. It's alarming how bad he can be on that end of the floor, missing open dunks and often coming up short on threes.
He played phenomenal defense on Tyrese Haliburton in this game, though, and was constantly fighting for an extra possession, hustling for a loose ball, getting an extra rebound, and just being pesky overall.
The energy and defensive effort will continue to get him playing time, but the offense will have to come around at some point. He had five steals in the first game against Houston, then finished this game with three blocks and one steal. He's an intriguing player, to say the least.
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