First and foremost, through the club’s first 34 games, players missed a total of 91 games due to either injury or rest, 64 of which were missed by Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bogut, and J.J. Barea, who figured to be three of the team’s six players heading into the season. Devin Harris and Seth Curry, the top combo guards off the bench, have missed 19 games combined. Against San Antonio, on Nov. 30, the Mavericks started four undrafted players in a game when just 10 guys were active. Only two were drafted in the first round.
Second, the team played 17 games in December, its most ever in the month, and seven of the last nine games in the month were played on the road.