The comeback was real, but Dallas’ empty possessions decided the night

What changed

Dallas made the final score respectable with a 34-point fourth quarter, but the shape of Wednesday’s 101-97 preseason loss to New Orleans was established much earlier. The Mavericks trailed by 11 at halftime and by 12 after three quarters, then got within three in the closing seconds before the rally ran out of possessions.

The box-score problem was not subtle: Dallas committed 27 turnovers and made only 10 of 49 three-point attempts. The misses came from everywhere — Zaccharie Risacher went 0-for-7 from deep, P.J. Washington and Caleb Martin were each 0-for-4, and Tarik Biberovic finished 1-for-9. That is too much empty offense for any lineup, especially one missing Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg.

There were useful flashes inside the mess. Sergio de Larrea finished with 10 points and six assists, Tobi Lawal and John Poulakidas scored 16 apiece, and the end-of-bench group kept competing after the rotation players were done. Preseason is for finding those small wins, even when the larger possession battle is lost.

What to watch next is not whether Dallas keeps taking threes — Dusty May clearly wants the volume — but whether the ball reaches those shots cleanly. Better spacing will not matter much if live-ball mistakes keep giving opponents the easier offense.