D

Five on Five: Mavs v. Wizards

Five observations on a lackluster loss to the Washington Wizards, after the jump.

1. Though it didn’t necessarily feel that way while sitting in the stands, it’s good to see Gilbert Arenas close to his old form again. He had an efficient 29 points and 9 assists, letting the game come to him. He got others involved early, most notably during a sequence where he fed Brendan Haywood for a couple of wide-open dunks that had the rank-and-file fans grumbling. And, if possible, he had a quiet game. When the second half of the season rolls around, he should be right where he was before a series of knee injuries sidelined him for almost two full seasons.

2. Dirk Nowitzki, true to his word, got off to a slow start, even if his 34-point, 9-board night doesn’t necessarily reflect it. He only really found his range in the second half, after piling up a dozen points at the line before the break. He wasn’t taking bad shots or getting poor looks at the basket. He was just a tick or so off; he had a pair of would-be momentum-building threes that swirled around the rim, and looked like they were going in, before spinning out. If this was a “bad” night for him, though, I think he’ll be fine.

3. Shawn Marion also was a tick or so off. I noticed two instances where he was set up for what normally would have been dunks. On both occasions, however, he took off about a foot or so too far away from the bucket, leading to two awkward-looking misses. I think this is more the function of still getting his bearings. He, too, will more than likely be fine.

4. Jason Terry, on the other hand, looked very much like where we left him in the playoffs against Denver. His 4-15 night (including 1-6 behind the arc) was ugly. Honestly, I can’t remember the four shots he actually hit. In the second half, he killed runs with ill-advised threes, and just generally had a bad floor game. I’m not sure what the problem was, other than osmosis: the entire operation felt like it was still in pre-season mode, from the whisper-quiet (and surprisingly absent) fans to the new HD video board (which was stuck in distracting picture-in-picture mode all night) to most of the team on both ends. They played with a we’ll-fix-it-in-the-mix lack of urgency that was reflected most notably in bad defensive rotations.

5. The Mavs were supposed to have an edge on the bench, with reigning Sixth Man of the Year Terry, along with Drew Gooden, last year’s spark plug J.J. Barea, and pre-season surprise Kris Humphries. Barea (13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) was the only one who added anything at all. The reserves were badly outplayed by Randy Foye (19 points) and Andre Blatche (20 points). So, in other words, nothing went right. But remember: the team started 2-7 last season, and dropped their first four at home. So don’t panic.

In the bonus: Playboy Playmate and pizza-place scion Amber Campisi won a name-that-tune contest during a timeout. In-arena announcer Chris Arnold didn’t appear to know who she was. Unless he was just acting and she was a plant.