Mavs Win Home Opener
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The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 126-99 Saturday night at the American Airlines Center.
With the victory, the Mavericks improved to 16-0 all-time in regular-season games against the Bobcats. The Mavericks are the only team with a perfect record against the Bobcats. What’s more, no other team has won 10 consecutive games against the Bobcats.
Dallas held Charlotte to 99 points in the win on Saturday. The Bobcats have yet to score 100 points in any of the 16 meetings with the Mavericks.
With the win, the Mavericks improved to 20-13 (.606) all-time in home openers (first home game of the year). It marked the second time in the last three years that Dallas played (and defeated) Charlotte in its first home game of the season (beat Charlotte 101-86 at home to begin the 2010-11 season).
Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle recorded his 200th victory with Dallas, becoming one of only three Mavericks coaches to achieve the milestone. Only Don Nelson (339) and Dick Motta (329) have more wins with the Mavericks.
Mavericks guard O.J. Mayo connected on a career-high seven 3-pointers (previous high 6 3-pointers on two occasions) en route to a season-high 30 points (10-17 FGs, 7-10 3FGs, 3-3 FTs). It was his highest scoring game since he recorded a career-high 40 points at Denver on 11/1/09. Mayo added a season-high six rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes. He had 12 points in each of Dallas’ first two games of
the season.
Mavericks point guard Darren Collison recorded his first double-double of the season (22nd career) with a season-high 18 points and a season-best 10 assists. He has now scored at least 17 points in each of Dallas’ first three games.
Mavericks swingman Vince Carter went 7-of-12 from the field (4-of-8 from deep) en route to a season-high 18 points off the bench.
Chris Kaman, who missed the first two games of the regular season with a strained right calf, made his regular-season debut for the Mavericks on Saturday and went 8-for-9 from the floor en route to 16 points. Kaman added four rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes off the bench.
Mavericks forward Jae Crowder managed 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting off the bench. It was his first career double-figure scoring game (had 8 points in each of Dallas’ first two games).
Troy Murphy, who was signed as a free agent by Dallas on Friday (11/2), made his Mavericks debut and grabbed five rebounds in 9 minutes off the bench.
The attendance for tonight’s game was 19,490. The Mavs have now sold out 433 consecutive regular-season games at American Airlines Center, which is an NBA-best sellout streak. The streak began on Dec. 15, 2001 and Dallas has sold out an additional 60 playoff games during that stretch.
The Mavericks’ next game is vs. Portland on Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
