dallasnews
MACAO, China — The Dallas Mavericks traveled to the Far East not only to experience Macao but also to gauge their training camp progress against external competition. In front of a sold-out crowd of 14,000 at the Venetian Arena, they learned that the Houston Rockets are athletic and deep. Additionally, American viewers, whether present or streaming, were reminded of Chinese fans' pure and infectious fascination with basketball and their enthusiasm for seeing NBA players up close.
In the 135-117 defeat, the Mavericks and first-year head coach Dusty May had limited takeaways, given that Kyrie Irving and PJ Washington did not play and Cooper Flagg sat out the second half. However, several first-blush observations emerged. A taller, more muscular Flagg appeared in regular-season form, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the second quarter before sitting out the rest of the night. Zaccharie Risacher, the former No. 1 overall pick acquired from Atlanta in July, seems poised to play a significant role. May had called him a very pleasant training camp surprise, and Risacher's nine points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes supported that assessment.
The Mavericks hoisted 51 3-point attempts, two more than their single-game high from the previous season. Before the game, May emphasized that this team needs a better shot diet than last year's squad. On this night, Dallas indulged in 3-point attempts, making a respectable 35%. "We take a lot of pride in taking what the game gives us," May said. "And with the lineups we had .. we decided to go into a different type of game and we didn't get much rim pressure."
Regarding the lineups, the Mavericks had determined days earlier that Irving would play in only one of the two NBA China Games. He is scheduled to play on Sunday night, which explains why Flagg played just 19 minutes. Sunday's game against the Rockets will not only mark Irving's return from a 19-month ACL tear absence but also feature his long-awaited pairing with Flagg. "We're still searching with this group, and that was the fun part of this game, having so many lineups that have never been on the court together," May said. "But certainly you always build your offense around your best players, so Coop and Kyrie are going to be the fulcrum to anything that we do."
After Friday's game, in which he noted that players on both teams seemed winded in the first quarter, Flagg did not temper expectations for what fans will see in the Irving-Flagg combo on Sunday and in the season ahead. "It's been an incredible training camp to play together and kind of figure that out on the fly," he said. "It's been fun and I'm really excited, sharing the court with him. With his gravity and the way he can manipulate the game, it's obviously going to make my life a lot easier."
Flagg has had a whirlwind week, a highlight being his Wednesday afternoon signature logo reveal at the Macao NBA Flagship store. There was no public pre-announcement that there would be a reveal, or that Flagg would appear at the store. Yet after the store displayed Flagg's new logo on window signage and stocked Flagg No. 32 jerseys on its main display case, a crowd organically massed to about 2,000. "Just to see that many people show up that quickly was really cool," Flagg said. "It was a really cool experience. Obviously a logo is something that's a big deal and it means a lot to me. To see how the fans supporting and that love from out here in general, this whole week has been really amazing."
The Mavericks have Saturday off from practice and media obligations. Don't read anything into Friday's score or statistics. Sunday's Irving-Flagg headliner should be a more intriguing show and better indication of what the Mavericks could be this season.
Originally reported by dallasnews.