The Big Question: Can Dallas's Defense Carry A Still-Broken…

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Tuesday, October 13

Dallas's offense ranked 27th in the league last season, its defense ranked 19th, and that gap is the clearest fact about what this team is built to do. Preseason has swung both ways, from a 135-point defensive collapse to a 115-point defensive hold two days later, with nothing resolved.

Mavericks Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

The Defense Has The Lead

The numbers from last season back the plan. Dallas's defense rated 115.5, 19th in the league, while the offense rated 110.3, 27th of 30 teams — a gap of eight full spots in the standings. General manager Nico Harrison built the roster around that split when he traded for Anthony Davis in February 2025, saying flatly that defense wins championships. Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington and Max Christie are the holdovers built for that identity, and the preseason rematch win over Houston, 132-115, showed the defense closing out a game the way it's supposed to.

The Offense Still Can't Keep Up

The opener undercut the case. Dallas allowed 135 points in a 117-135 loss to the Rockets on October 9, a defensive performance that looked nothing like a 19th-ranked unit. Net rating last season was -5.2, 22nd in the league, proof that a better defense than offense still added up to a losing team. Cooper Flagg carried the offense as a rookie with 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists over 70 games, but he shot only 29.5 percent from three — the kind of number that keeps a 27th-ranked offense exactly where it was.

Health Decides Which Side Is Real

Neither number means much until the roster is whole. Kyrie Irving was cleared twice, on October 5 and October 9, then tagged out for rest the same day as the Rockets game. P.J. Washington picked up a left ankle issue in that same game, and Santi Aldama's knee tag was specified the same day. Lively has had no update since a September 23 report that he wasn't cleared for camp. Until Irving, Washington, Aldama and Lively share the floor at once, the -5.2 net rating has no real test — and the defense, not the offense, is still the side with more evidence in its favor.

Is the Mavericks' defense actually better than the offense?

Yes by the numbers: Dallas's defense rated 115.5 last season, 19th in the league, while the offense rated 110.3, 27th of 30 teams.

Why did the Mavericks allow 135 points in their preseason opener?

Dallas lost 117-135 to Houston on October 9, then held the Rockets to 115 points in a 132-115 win two days later, showing a defense that still swings from game to game.

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.