Dallas Mavericks: Should fans be worried about the offense?

The Dallas Mavericks had a rough first game of the Jason Kidd era on Oct. 21 as they were blown out by the Atlanta Hawks. Dallas held Trae Young and the returning Eastern Conference Finalists to 51 points in the first half, but a 35-20 third quarter broke the game open and spelled the end for Dallas.

Luka Doncic and the Mavs were undefeated during the preseason, so Thursday night’s result on national television was a letdown for fans. They are still sorting out their schemes under new head coach Jason Kidd, but there were a few changes on full display.

The Mavericks scored just 87 points in the season opener, despite increasing their pace and taking 93 field goal attempts. Should fans be worried about the offense after an abysmal start to the regular season?

Should Dallas Mavericks fans be worried about the offense?

The Mavs had a historic offensive rating in 2020 before slipping to eighth in the league last season, but the team has had one of the top offenses in the Luka Doncic era. Dallas's season-low in scoring last season was 87 points, but Luka did not play in that contest.

The Mavericks shot 31 of 93 from the field in the opener, including going 13 of 43 from 3-point range. Coach Jason Kidd said he liked the team’s looks during his postgame presser, but ESPN’s Tim MacMahon noted that Dallas had a shot quality of 48.4 percent, which would have been one of their worst a season ago.

Spacing was an issue for Dallas in the opener, so should fans be worried about the Mavericks' offense?