DALLAS _ Rick Carlisle was visibly giddy, especially for him. Mark Cuban was upbeat, too, between trying to convince reporters that player-franchise discord happens all the time.
Dennis Smith Jr.? It was impossible to tell from his facial expressions _ before, during and after Tuesday's 106-98 victory over the Clippers _ how he felt about returning from a week-long self-exile from the team.
But then again, it's always been hard to read Smith.
The most emotion he showed Tuesday night was following his beautiful alley-oop lob to DeAndre Jordan from a couple of steps beyond midcourt. Jordan's slam gave Dallas a 99-93 lead. Smith extended his arms and pointed to Jordan.
In his first game since Feb. 7, Smith contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Doncic finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Although Carlisle last Saturday sounded definitive when he described Doncic as a point guard, Smith's Tuesday return moved Doncic to shooting guard in the starting lineup.
"But we have two point guards," Carlise said. "That's the beauty of it. And I think in today's game, you've got to have two dynamic playmakers."
One of the factors in Smith's departure from the team, though not the overriding one, Mavericks and league sources told The News, was Carlisle's and Smith's occasional head-butting about Smith's on-court decision-making
The larger factor, the same sources said, was Doncic's faster-than-anyone-dreamed emergence as the Mavericks' best player and facilitator.
During Smith's and Doncic's time on the court together, Smith increasingly had been relegated to a secondary ball-handling role. In other words, shooting guard.
Worse, the Smith-Doncic combo's analytics had been awful, with the Mavericks averaging a woeful 100.9 points per possession when they shared the court _ about eight points per 100 possessions than Dallas' overall average.
"We've got to work with it," Carlisle said Tuesday. "We've got to make it fit better."
When asked if there was need for reconciliation between Smith and Carlisle, Cuban essentially said reporters have made much ado about nothing.
"Look, if you just watch a game, it's rare that there's a game where a player is not mad at someone on the coaching staff," he said.
OK, but to be mad enough, or whatever the case was, to leave the team for a week?
"There's no blame game," Cuban said. "There's nothing ... In the bigger pantheon of things that have happened on the court, it's nothing. Nothing. Things that we've had happen with players and stuff, nothing."
Carlisle said he reached out by text last Thursday to Smith and Smith's agent, Glenn Schwartzman to let them know that Smith was welcome to return at any time.
Then on Sunday, Carlisle and Smith conversed by phone during the Mavericks' two-game trip to Indiana and Milwaukee, with Carlisle informing the team that day of Smith's impending return.
Carlisle on Tuesday declined to discuss the nature of that conversation, calling it "private stuff."
Carlisle during his 11 seasons has won more games than any Mavericks coach before him, along with, of course, the 2010-2011 NBA championship.
Along the way he has earned a reputation, not unlike Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, for being particularly demanding of point guards. He initially clashed with Jason Kidd before turning the offense over to him. And, most infamously, Carlisle and Rajon Rondo failed to coexist.
Cuban said he's often read the Carlisle-point-guard narrative, but Cuban wondered aloud Tuesday why guards J.J. Barea and Devin Harris have returned to the Mavericks on multiple occasions.
"There's never been a coach who hasn't had disagreements with players or issues with players," Cuban said. "I've had three coaches since we've been here [Don Nelson, Avery Johnson and Carlisle]. And I've had players who have taken sabbaticals _ that's not the right word _ who haven't played for whatever reason with Nellie, with Avery and with Rick.
"And it's going to happen again. It's just the nature of the beast.
"Rick, not only did we win the championship, he knows what we expect. He knows how we want to get there. And he's a good coach. Those are three qualities that you look for in a coach. He's smart. He's adaptable. He changes with the game."
Indications are that it took some adapting on Carlisle's part to smooth whatever hard feelings existed with Smith in order to pave his return. On his ESPN 103.3 FM show last week, Carlisle said it was his feeling that Smith was being told to stay away by his "advisers.
"I believe there's business stuff going on," Carlisle said that day.
A source in Smith's inner-circle told The News last week that while Smith likes the franchise and his teammates, Dallas simply didn't appear to be a good basketball fit, adding "He just wants to find a place and go play."
That place must be Dallas, at least for now.
And for one rollicking night at American Airlines Center, it was a promising re-start.
