The Dallas Mavericks lost 95-73 to the Philadelphia 76ers in their first game of the 2021 Las Vegas Summer League. The Game featured three players picked in the 2020 NBA Draft: Tyrese Maxey and Isiah Joe for the 76ers and Tyrell Terry for the Mavs. Nate Hinton, one of the Mavericks’ two-way players from the 2020-21 season also appeared. Josh Green, the Mavs’ 18th overall pick in last year’s draft is on the Mavs’ Summer League roster but after being with the Australian National Team that won Bronze in the Olympics, the Mavericks announced that he will not play in Las Vegas. 

From the beginning, Maxey and Joe asserted their status as the best players in this game. The dynamic duo from Philadelphia took turns killing the Mavs from the perimeter. Maxey and Joe combined for 57 points, including 7-14 shooting from behind the three point arc. The Mavs lacked cohesion on both ends, turning it over 23 times, which had them down 57 to 31 at halftime. The Mavs mightily struggled shooting the ball, hitting just 5 of their 22 three point attempts as a team. Tyrell Terry, who had 3 of those three pointers, led the way in scoring for the Mavs with 22 points. Eugene Omoruyi finished with 16 points for Dallas.

Tyrell Terry Showed Flashes, But His Lack of Size is Still an Issue:

Mavs fans got their highly-anticipated extended look at Tyrell Terry who missed most of last season due to Personal Reasons. He showed flashes of the player he was at Stanford, with some fancy finishes at the rim and quality midrange makes. He also had a few nice assists to cutters for scores on the inside. For stretches of the game, Terry played off-ball while Hinton ran point for the Mavs. While Summer League is not the place to draw definitive conclusions it is still clear that Terry’s lack of size severely limits his ability to get open for shots using off-ball actions. Fighting through defenders is still difficult for him, and he lacks the explosiveness off screens needed from an off-ball shooter. Almost all of his scoring came when he was the primary ball handler on possessions. The times he did have the ball were not always smooth either, as he had 5 turnovers to his 3 assists. Terry did have an encouraging 4th quarter, but the 76ers were already decisively ahead, with the final frame serving more as garbage time. If he wants to crack the Mavs’ rotation, he’s going to need to excel playing off-ball. At his current weight (170 lbs.), it’s a little hard to see him making an impact against the more physical defenses of the NBA. Still, it was nice to see Terry have a productive performance in his first outing since the G-League Bubble earlier this year.

Nate Hinton Was Disappointing:

Nate Hinton started the game for the Mavericks and for many stretches in the game, was playing point guard. At 6’ 5”, 210 lbs., Hinton has the perfect build for an NBA wing. Hinton seemed to be putting in extensive work this offseason, which created a decent buzz around him with Mavs fans. Ultimately, his showing in this game was a dud as he finished with just one point in 29 minutes. His shot did not look particularly fluid either, missing all seven of his field goals, two of which were three pointers. He did have 6 assists to go along with 8 rebounds so we’ll see if head coach Greg St. Jean’s staff does anything to get Hinton’s scoring going early in the next game. 

Eugene Omoruyi had an Encouraging Showing:

Prior to Summer League, St. Jean spoke about Omoruyi’s positional versatility and improved shot. Omoruyi was one of the few bright spots for the Mavs in this game outside of Terry, showing both his skill and toughness on the glass. The former Oregon Duck played 25 minutes and finished the game as the Mavs’ second-leading scorer. While Omoruyi was 0 for 5 from the 3 point line, he showed the ability to make plays from the perimeter as well as on the inside, finishing a couple of layups in traffic off feeds from Terry. In the 4th quarter Omoyuri got going a bit, scoring 6 points during one of the few runs the Mavs made in the game. The chemistry between Omoruyi and Terry is something to watch going into the Mavs’ next Summer League contest. 

The Mavs face the Utah Jazz at 8 PM Central Time on Wednesday August 11th for their Dallas’ second Summer League game.