The Mavs came away from Saturday’s Fan Jam with a limp, a chipped tooth and some clarity at point guard.
The Dallas Mavericks Blues (backups) topped the Whites (projected starters) 40-37 in an intrasquad scrimmage in front of 6,440 fans at the AAC, the workout featuring two 10-minute halves and lots of interaction with the audience.
“Great time today practicing/playing in front of my new home town,” Jameer Nelson tweeted. “I really appreciate the love and support.”
Coach Rick Carlisle is no fan of unveiling intentions before necessary, but as noted at the beginning of the week when training camp opened, the starting lineup is indeed taking shape. … and the coach is giving Nelson that same “love and support.” The first unit included point guard Nelson joining Monta Ellis, Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons and Tyson Chandler.
“I know everybody is into who’s going to start and all that stuff, but that’s not the important thing,” Carlisle said. “The important thing is that we keep working to be competitive and efficient, and that we get better as a team. And we’re going to need a lot of people to contribute.”
Mavs contributions certainly came from the Blue squad, led by Devin Harris, who has said he is comfortable setting in as the leader of the second wave. Mavs coaches also are praising non-guaranteed forward Charlie Villanueva, Jae Crowder (who Carlisle says has been Dallas’ second best defender so far behind TY) and reclamation project Raymond Felton, who helped the Blues “beat (the Whites) asses pretty good, huh?” Rick said.
Nowitzki did come away with a slight limp; Carlisle said it’s nothing serious. And backup big man Greg Smith chipped a tooth. Otherwise, the workout (which went on without Gal Mekel, who was observing Yom Kippur) went on without a hitch.
“I thought it was positive,” Carlisle said. “There were some good things out there. We need more work, obviously. It’s only been five days, I guess. We’ve got a day off (Sunday) and we’ll pick it back up on Monday.”
Mavericks training camp continues Monday and then they play host to the rival Rockets in the preseason opener Tuesday.
