INDIANAPOLIS _ This is what the Mavericks envisioned.
Harrison Barnes was making shots, including a 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in regulation that forced overtime.
The small lineup was humming along with Deron Williams and J.J. Barea sparking a powerful offense.
Dirk Nowitzki was still himself, hitting shots and even grabbing a few rebounds while playing the center spot.
The defense? Well, they tried to play it. That's about all you can say about it.
The Mavericks pulled up the curtain on the regular season Wednesday night and saw a pretty solid effort end in disappointing fashion with a 130-121 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers.
"We're 0-1, so there's not much positive going on," Nowitzki said afterward.
Actually, they had a lot of things they could feel good about. The defense, however, wasn't among them. They were annihilated by second-year big man Myles Turner, who had 30 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots.
"Hand in his face, open, it didn't matter," said Deron Williams, who led the Mavericks with 25 points. "I don't know if he can do that every night, but if he can, he's going to be a heck of a player."
He made the Mavericks' defense look awful at times, as did Monta Ellis, Paul George and Jeff Teague.
"Defense obviously has to be better," coach Rick Carlisle said. "Giving up 130 points is no way to do business."
The Mavericks had to fight from behind all night and needed Barnes' clutch shot to extend the game.
It might be wise for everybody to dial it down a little on the concern meter when it comes to Barnes' 3-point shooting. Barnes had shot horribly in the preseason, but he looked like a different player in the opener.
"I had so many good shots that just weren't going in," Barnes said. "I knew they'd start to fall at some point. That last one, I just tried to take my time and it great to see that one go down."
Said Williams: "That was a huge shot. It saved me. I had a couple bad turnovers late. It's good when one of your teammates helps erase that."
More on that in a moment.
The Mavericks had gone to a small lineup through most of the second half with Nowitzki playing center, Barnes as the lone forward and three guards on the court _ usually Wesley Matthews, Williams and Barea.
That was clearly an effective lineup against the Pacers.
The overtime was a comedy of errors at time. Jeff Teague, the Indy guard who had the slow-footed Nowitzki on him in the corner, lost his dribble out of bounds when Nowitzki was a good 5 feet away from him. That prompted a fist pump and a yelp from Nowitzki, not exactly known for his defensive prowess.
The Mavericks had problems of their own. Barea lobbed a pass that was easily picked off by the Pacers and Matthews missed a key free throw.
When Turner hit a 3-pointer with 1:18 to play in OT, the Pacers were up 122-118 and Carlisle needed a timeout.
The results were not what he wanted.
Williams was stripped by Ellis and that led to a George 3-pointer with 55.2 left for a 125-118 Pacers lead.
So what had been a grand effort ended up with a saddening end.
