The Mavericks are trying something new this preseason.
By trying less.
Dallas has scheduled just three exhibition games — a league-low this year and in at least the last 20 non-COVID and non-lockout years — and coach Jason Kidd said that’s on purpose.
Already, the Mavericks have held out key players in the opener Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Tulsa, and they plan to strategically play and rest key rotation contributors in the last two, Friday against Orlando and Oct. 14 in Utah.
During a stretch most NBA teams look for answers about basketball, the Mavericks are examining the opposite.
“I wanted to see less preseason games just to have the data to see how we handle it,” Kidd said. “A lot of teams are playing four, five or six, so I went on the other side to see if we can play three.
“We’ll just see how it goes. It could be something that we don’t ever do again, or if the players say they like it, it’ll be something we’ll do again.”
Kidd would’ve opted for the latter option as a player.
During his second stint in Dallas from 2007-12, the Mavericks played seven or eight exhibitions each fall except 2011, when the NBA lockout cut the preseason short.
“You were tired by the time the season started because you have two-a-days every day,” Kidd said.
The Mavericks last played eight preseason games in 2014.
Then seven in 2015 and 2016.
Down to six in 2017, five in 2019 and four last year.
Across the NBA this season, 15 teams will play four exhibitions, 12 will play five and two — the Los Angeles Lakers and the Thunder — will play six.
The league allows teams to create their own preseason schedules, so once the Mavs’ prospect of an Australian opponent fell through this year, they didn’t scramble for backup.
Kidd instead will run an extra closed intrasquad scrimmage, likely Wednesday at American Airlines Center, and concentrate more on ensuring his team that returns much of its Western Conference Finals core is energized and healthy when the games count.
“This is the fewest that I’ve ever been a part of,” Kidd said. “We’ll see. I don’t think it makes or breaks the season. It’s just doing something different so we can say we’ve gone there — was it good or something we should revisit?”
