The Dallas Mavericks host the Indiana Pacers on Monday with a chance to turn one sharp win into another. Dallas is 6-4 after beating the Brooklyn Nets 130-93 on Sunday, and Indiana arrives at 3-7 after losing 114-102 to Denver on Saturday.
Kyrie Irving was part of the reason Dallas looked so settled in that win over Brooklyn. He scored 21 points while getting to his spots without having to monopolize the offense, and the Mavericks also got 18 points from Daniel Gafford as they piled up 64 points in the paint.
That is the form carrying into a matchup Dallas already controlled once. The Mavericks beat Indiana 121-105 in the first meeting, opening that game with 44 points in the first quarter and taking a 77-43 lead into halftime. Cooper Flagg played 17 minutes in that one before leaving with a shoulder injury, and his status remains a question hanging over the rematch as much as the scoreboard does.
The setup tilts in more than one direction. Dallas is playing on short rest after a Sunday game, while Indiana had Sunday off before heading into Monday. The Pacers are still without Tyrese Haliburton because of a left hamstring injury, which leaves them trying to find a way back into a matchup that already got away from them once and now comes with less margin for error.
For Dallas, the real test is not whether it has flashed enough offense to win comfortably. It is whether the Mavericks can bring the same pace and control into a second straight night without letting the schedule flatten them. If they do, the first meeting may look less like an outlier than a preview.
