J.J. Barea, among others, has stressed that beyond anything else, the Mavericks have to get off to a good start this season.
"If we start bad again, it's just downhill," Barea said Thursday. "The start has to be awesome - at least .500."
Compared to the last two seasons, when the Mavericks started out 2-13 and 2-14, .500 would be awesome.
And they have to overcome some challenging factors, most notably recovering from two preseason games in China against Philadelphia. The travel demands of that trip cannot be overlooked. On Thursday at least two players, several basketball staffers and others who were in the Mavericks' traveling party to China came down ill.