The Mavericks beat the Chicago Bulls tonight 88-83
Some thoughts and notes about the game after the jump...
Rodrique Beaubois was interviewed in the 2nd quarter and was in good spirits. He still has a chance to be ready by game 1 of the season, but Cuban said that they were not going to rush him. Good idea.
Chandler looks good. He had a few too many fouls, 4 to be exact, but the energy he brings off the bench is instantaneous and it's going to be a nice change of pace during the season.
The Mavericks tried Jason Terry at the point in the 3rd quarter and he didn't look too bad. I don't think we're going to see more Terry at the point this season, but it included a posterization of Keith Bogans, so that was fun.
The battle for the final roster spot went no where tonight as Ajinca, Haluska, Novak got DNPs. Cardinal played for exactly 2 minutes and 4 seconds, so he didn't really distinguish himself from his competition
Caron Butler was fairly non-existent until the fourth quarter. He scored 14 points in the 4th but looked slow and, at times, lost on offense. Hopefully he gets the kinks worked out in the pre-season.
Carlisle mentioned in the pre-game show that the Mavericks will have a new starting line-up this year and alluded to the fact that they need another scorer out on the floor with Kidd. I assume this means Beaubois, but you never know with Carlisle.
Dirk was Dirk, scoring 30 points tonight. Although, you have to wonder why he was getting so many touches. Pre-season should be more about getting to know how Jones flows in this offense and if Mahinmi can establish himself as the 3rd center/backup power forward going forward.
Saturday the Mavericks face the Suns. This is not your ordinary game. Get ready for outdoor basketball!! Yay!
You can catch the game on TNT at 8:30pm.