Dallas Mavericks: 3 takeaways from 2017-18 season opener

1. Dennis Smith Jr. looks good but will need to bring his team along as well

Rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. got his first season in the NBA off to a rocking start. He put up a double-double in his NBA debut, scoring 16 points and dishing out 10 assists despite the loss.

Smith gave Mavericks fans a glimpse of things to come with a number of athletic plays, showing his fearless pursuit to get to the rim all game long. He also had his hands full on defense, surrendering 28 points to Dennis Schroder, but so did the rest of his teammates.

Backcourt mate Yogi Ferrell got the starting nod next to Smith Jr. with Seth Curry nursing a leg injury, but he didn’t have the greatest of games. Ferrell finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the 3-point stripe, but was only 3-of-7 from the field overall in 31 minutes of play.

He didn’t take a whole lot of shots on offense, which could have helped things in the long run, and also had just two assists in the game.

There were a lot of moving parts for Dallas in Game 1, so the six-point loss is understandable, but going forward, they’ll need Smith Jr. to adjust, despite his rookie status.

Backups J.J. Barea and Devin Harris had solid outings off the bench, but it still wasn’t enough. Barea finished with 13 points, five assists and three rebounds. Harris was 1-of-5 from 3-point range with 10 points and two assists.

Next: 2017-18 Week 1 NBA Power Rankings

Adjusting their minutes could be key in getting their offensive attack going in the future.