DALLAS, Texas — After the Mavericks win on Saturday, Rick Carlisle said the team did many things well, but believes there is plenty of work to do to become a better all around team.
“Defensively, we did some very good things. It’s hard to play a perfect defensive game in the NBA, but it’s pretty clear we should be a better defensive team, but we did a lot of solid things and we are going to keep working” Carlisle said speaking with reporters during his remote post practice press conference in Milwaukee.
Starting the preseason playing against one of the better teams in the NBA like Milwaukee can be the perfect test for a team like Dallas whose mission is to ultimately find their identity defensively. On Saturday night the Mavericks had a better than expected outing on the defensive end of the floor, stealing the ball 8 times, forcing 15 turnovers, holding the Bucks to 41% shooting from the floor and 27% from the three point line . Rick Carlisle thinks playing a team like the Bucks is the perfect test for his team.
“This is a great test for us trying to keep Giannis out of the lane, keep Middleton from getting easy looks, and Holiday is a good player and the Bucks really execute their offense well.”
The Mavericks “Bench Mob” outscored the Bucks bench and flipped a 6 point deficit into a 20 point lead midway through the third quarter. The bench finished +16 on the night and had +16 performances from Jalen Brunson, Trey Burke, Maxi Kleber, and rookie Josh Green. Each player on the Mavericks roster played on Saturday night, but Rick Carlisle is not sure that his team will use the same approach in their second matchup against the Bucks tonight.
This second preseason game will be more like a dress rehearsal as starting players may play well into the second half and players coming off the bench will play within their designated roles on the roster.
Projected Starting Lineups for tonight’s game
Dallas Mavericks
G Luka Doncic
G Josh Richardson
F Tim Hardaway Jr
F Dorian Finney Smith
C Dwight Powell
Milwaukee Bucks
G Jrue Holiday
G Donte Divincenzo
F Khris Middleton
F Giannis Antetokounmpo
C Brook Lopez
Tip off for the Dallas Mavericks vs Milwaukee Bucks at 7:00PM CT on Fox Sports Southwest and Mavs.com
