ORLANDO – As coach Rick Carlisle duly noted Friday night, the first game after an extended All-Star break is a bit of a crapshoot.
“Coming out of the break, it’s a little unpredictable how it’s going to go,” Carlisle said pregame. “Usually it’s not real smooth at the beginning, but you jump out there and compete. The important thing is to play hard.”
OK, it went a little in reverse for the Mavericks. The start Friday night against the Orlando Magic was about as good as it could have been.
It was the rest of the night that left them scrambling.