Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks Dominate Jazz in Home Opener for First Win

After a heartbreaking loss to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on opening night, the Dallas Mavericks (1-1) quickly bounced back to absolutely demolish the lowly Utah Jazz (0-2) in the first home game of the season.

The Mavs dominated this game from start to finish, starting the game off going 8 for 8 from the field and not missing their first shot until about halfway through the first quarter. After the hot start, the Mavs never looked back and were even up by as many as 30 points with seven players scoring in double figures.

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Dirk Nowitzki was sizzling throughout the night, finishing with 21 points on 9-13 shooting. Chandler Parsons bounced back from his awful debut as a Maverick, matching Dirk’s game-high 21 points on 8-16 shooting. Al Farouq Aminu also added a nice double-double with 16 points and 10 boards even though most of those stats came in garbage time. And J.J. Barea made his first appearance after being re-signed by Dallas for the veterans minimum.

Derrick Favors led Utah with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Trey Burke added 16 points and 7 assists for the Jazz.

Here are my three big takeaways from the Mavs home opener:

1. It’s still so fun to watch Dirk destroy his opponents.

Dirk started the game off 4-4, and was hot throughout the entire night. He hit his patented fade-away multiple times over different Utah defenders and added in a couple of threes. Dirk seems to be the same as he was last year so far, and that’s exactly what the Mavs are hoping for.

2. The Mavs REALLY missed Tyson Chandler.

Through the first two games of the season, Chandler has already clearly been a huge upgrade over Dalembert. Against the Jazz, he showed that he hasn’t missed a beat on the defensive end or with rebounding since leaving Dallas after winning the championship, and you can easily tell that Dallas is where Chandler wants to be. His passion is unbelievable, and his alley oops are even more so. Chandler had FOUR alley oops this game, and the last one-handed jam was definitely the most memorable.

3. Chandler Parsons is fine. 

There were many overreactions to Parsons’ terrible debut, as he totaled just five points on 2-10 shooting to go along with a missed game-winning shot attempt. Things couldn’t have gone much worse for Parsons against the Spurs, but man did he respond against the Jazz. Parson actually struggled to start off this game as well, going 1-7, but he turned it up in the second quarter and for the rest of the game, ending with 21 points on 50% shooting. Parsons not only scored well, but he also made plays for his teammates. A nice alley oop pass to Tyson, great pick-and-roll game, and smart passes were all displayed by Parsons. Mavs fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Parsons likely won’t be a complete bust.

A few other quick things to take away form the game:

– Mavs fans, including myself, also missed J.J. Barea, and the crowd showed their appreciation with a nice standing ovation as Barea entered the game.

– Devin Harris really is proving to be a legitimate sixth man candidate.

– This offense has endless possibilities.

Overall, this is a good win for the Mavs but also one they should’ve definitely won. The Mavs did their job this game , and play the Pelicans  in New Orleans on Saturday at 6:00. It’ll be fun to see how we play against upcoming star Anthony Davis.