Throughout the preseason, Antoine Wright earned his way, primarily with defense, to the starting job at shooting guard. He made his starting debut on Thursday but had a horrendous night, missing five of six shots in a home loss to Houston.
Two nights later at Minnesota, Wright not only found himself out of the starting lineup, but out of the rotation altogether in the Mavericks' victory over the Timberwolves. Gerald Green, the Mavs' other young swingman seeking a breakout season, went from not playing in the opener to possibly being on an upward swing after he scored seven of his nine points during a highlight-reel, three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter.
"What I have to do is just be ready," Green said. "That's the situation. My number can be called at any time. Like I said, I don't really care about what happens. Of course, I'd love to be in the rotation, but as long as we win, that's all that matters to me and everybody on the team."
Green had a solid preseason, but it was unclear if he could crack a rotation that could go 10 or 11 deep, especially when Devean George returns from a hand injury, possibly on Monday. Coach Rick Carlisle has said his rotation will be fluid.
"All I've got to do is be ready to play and hopefully my number gets called," Green said. "And if it doesn't, I'll just cheer my teammates on and just go day by day."
MAVERICKS 95, TIMBERWOLVES 85: A huge effort from the bench propelled the Mavs to their first victory of the season Saturday. Gerald Green and J.J. Barea, two young players who didn't play at all in the season opener, led a fourth-quarter, all-reserve charge that expanded the lead from three points to 11. Dirk Nowitzki scored a team-high 21, but Green's nine points, seven in a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, made the difference.
