In their first preseason game of the season, the Dallas Mavericks fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-99. Here are a few takeaways and bright spots from the game.
The biggest takeaway is arguably the performance of the potential starters Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper. Lively II had a few bright spots in this game, such as his energy on the defensive end, and his willingness to switch seamlessly. He seemed to make the Timberwolves at least think before driving into the paint. He also rebounded well, finishing the game with five boards. A big area of improvement to keep an eye out for is how quickly the fouls pile up. This is not something new with Lively. He had the same issue of staying on the court because of the foul count when he played last season for the Duke Blue Devils. No doubt, with him working so closely with Tyson Chandler, he will show improvement on defending without fouling.
Prosper did not have a great showing in the first game. He finished with one point and one rebound. He seemed to be out of place defensively, and while he also displayed some energy, he lacked the physicality needed to be able to defend the elite perimeter players in this league, such as Anthony Edwards. If Prosper is going to want to earn and keep the starting spot on the roster, he is the player that needs to make the biggest adjustment in the remainder of the preseason games.
Grant Williams showed some flashes of what was intriguing about acquiring him in the offseason. He knocked down two shots from outside in a pivotal moment where the Mavericks went on a scoring run in the third quarter. Williams also finished with two rebounds and a blocked shot.
Jaden Hardy has really improved on some of the items that the coaching staff really wanted him to focus on in summer league and heading into this season. One of those being his ability to facilitate on the offensive end. Dallas fans are aware that Hardy knows how to shoot the ball, but he showed obvious signs of his improvement in finding open teammates to knock down shots. He made an impressive play early in the third quarter, where he drove to the rim and found AJ Lawson in the corner with a one-handed no-look pass. If he continues to improve in this area, it should help to solidify his spot in the rotation, even with the addition of Seth Curry and Dante Exum.
The Mavericks play their second game in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, October 7 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.