With Paolo Banchero out of the lineup for the Orlando Magic due to injury, the Dallas Mavericks defiantly defeated the Magic on Sunday night at the American Airlines Center as Dallas won 108-85. Dallas had a really balanced attack offensively in this game, getting great two-way play from both centers in Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, while the big man duo finished with 29 combined points and 19 combined rebounds in this game.

The Magic struggled with shot making without Banchero in this game, and Dallas’ bigs did an excellent job controlling the paint on the occasions when Magic players were able to get an attempt at the rim.

Much like last Thursday night’s loss to Houston, Dallas struggled to get Klay Thompson open looks in this game and Orlando opted not to trap Thompson in this game.

But even though Thompson only finished with nine points in this game on 4-10 shooting from the field, Thompson didn’t force anything and played within the flow of the offense.

Dallas doesn’t have a problem with Klay Thompson at all, but they did have a problem getting off to a good start offensively heading into this game, especially in the case of Luka Doncic.

Last Thursday against the Rockets was the epitome of this problem that has plagued Doncic at several points last season, as well as the first few games this season, when Doncic forced hard outside looks and was inefficient in the first half of that game.

However, in the first half against the Magic on Sunday night, Doncic had 25 points on 9-14 shooting as he routinely took stepback 3-pointers from the outside and was called in the post with his footwork.

If the Mavericks want to reach their potential this season, Doncic needs to make better starts like this more often so that Dallas’ offense gets going faster. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd also emphasized the importance of this in a pregame interview, and Kidd’s wishes were granted after Dallas led 65-40 at halftime.

With this game taking place on the first night of a back-to-back, it is extremely relieving that Dallas was able to get their first big win of the season on a night like this. Doncic finished with 32 points in this game, although he could have easily had more if he hadn’t had the luxury of an early elimination since Dallas had so much of a lead.

Besides Doncic, none of Dallas’ other starters played more than 29 minutes in this game. Hopefully Dallas taking care of business handily tonight will lead to them feeling a little more energized when they take on a hungry 2-4 Indiana Pacers team tomorrow night on the second night of this back-to-back.

The Mavericks are talented enough to pick up wins if Doncic gets off to a rough start if he can bounce back in the second half as we’ve seen this season, but Doncic can do himself and the team a lot of favors by emphasizing getting out hot starts like he did tonight, because the benefits are usually huge.