If you were picking a fight song for the Mavericks' defense after three exhibition games, it would have been that regrettable hit by the band of the same name: Talk Talk.
Because that's all they had done - talk about it. On Thursday night, they walked the walk a little bit.
After surrendering at least 107 points and allowing opponents to shoot 48.3 percent in the first three games, the Mavericks clamped down on the shorthanded Detroit Pistons and rolled to a 113-88 exhibition win at American Airlines Center.
Rick Carlisle is determined to get the Mavericks into a defensive mode this season. In their defense, they haven't had Shawn Marion on the court much during the preseason, and he figures to be one of their best defenders.
Same with Josh Howard, who hasn't played at all.
Also, it's only preseason, which can be a difficult time to gauge efficiency at either end of the court.
But the Mavericks held the Pistons to under 40 percent shooting, a commendable effort considering the visitors were over 50 percent during the second quarter. When the Mavericks got rolling offensively by opening up their fast break, it was the best of both worlds.
"Special teams can do both," Carlisle said. "They can play a flow style offensively, but they still have the wherewithal and the awareness and toughness to get back and play a physical brand of defense and not just get into a shot-trading team. To be a special team, we're going to have to do both."
For a night, everything clicked like the Mavericks want it to.
Marion's timetable: Shawn Marion said the prognosis for his sore right calf is a seven-to-10 day absence.
That would put him back perhaps for the final preseason game on Oct. 24. He said he plans to be fully recovered for the regular-season opener on Oct. 27.
"It's one of those things that if you don't let it heal, it can linger," Marion said. "And I don't want it to linger. I was trying to play through it a little, and I actually tweaked it a little more in the last game."
Flu precautions: The Cleveland Cavaliers come to town Saturday night, and LeBron James and a couple of teammates have been treated for the H1N1 flu.
James is making the trip, which starts tonight in San Antonio.
So far, the Mavericks have been lucky in that nobody on the team has been knocked out for any serious time by flu-like symptoms.
"We've done everything," coach Rick Carlisle said. "Hey, swine flu is everywhere. We have a much higher awareness level and more of a pro-active approach to it this year than in past years. If guys wake up at home and have a fever, they're not going to come to practice. It's as simple as that. But knock on wood (no problems). You got to do everything you can to stay healthy."
Mavericks SCHEDULE
PRESEASON
OCTOBER
Day Date Opponent TV Time
Sat 17 Cleveland Ch. 21 7:30
Tue 20 at Cleveland* HDNet 6:30
Fri 23 at Houston Ch. 21 7:30
* at Pittsburgh
REGULAR SEASON
OCTOBER
Day Date Opponent TV Time
Tue 27 Washington FSSW 7:30
Fri 30 at LA Lakers ESPN 9:30
Sat 31 at LA Clippers Ch. 21 9:30
NOVEMBER
Day Date Opponent TV Time
Tue 3 Utah FSSW 7:30
Wed 4 at New Orleans ESPN 8:30
Sat 7 Toronto Ch. 21 7:30
Tue 10 Houston Ch. 21 7:30
Wed 11 at San Antonio Ch. 21 7:30
Fri 13 at Minnesota FSSW 7:00
Sun 15 at Detroit FSSW 5:00
Mon 16 at Milwaukee FSSW 7:00
Wed 18 San Antonio ESPN 8:30
Fri 20 Sacramento FSSW 7:30
Tue 24 Golden State FSSW 7:30
Wed 25 at Houston Ch. 21 7:30
Fri 27 at Indiana FSSW 7:00
Sat 28 at Cleveland Ch. 21 6:30
Mon 30 Philadelphia FSSW 7:30
DETROIT 24 26 23 15 - 88
DALLAS 25 31 36 21 - 113
DETROIT (88)-Wilcox 3-6 0-0 6, Daye 2-6 2-2 8, Brown 4-6 3-6 11, Stuckey 8-18 3-3 20, Hamilton 4-10 1-1 9, Gordon 4-8 1-2 9, Jerebko 3-7 2-3 8, Bynum 1-5 2-2 4, Maxiell 0-1 2-2 2, Summers 0-5 0-0 0, Atkins 2-3 0-0 5, Washington 2-4 2-4 6, Baston 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-79 18-25 88.
DALLAS (113)-Singleton 0-3 0-0 0, Nowitzki 5-9 5-7 15, Dampier 4-5 0-1 8, Kidd 2-5 0-0 5, Beaubois 2-4 0-0 5, Terry 8-10 1-1 21, Gooden 6-11 4-4 16, Ross 4-6 3-5 11, Barea 3-7 0-0 6, Humphries 5-8 4-6 14, Carroll 2-6 4-4 8, Jawai 1-2 0-0 2, Voskuhl 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 43-77 21-28 113.
3-point goals -Detroit 4-12 (Daye 2-2, Atkins 1-2, Stuckey 1-4, Hamilton 0-1, Jerebko 0-1, Gordon 0-2), Dallas 6-11 (Terry 4-5, Kidd 1-2, Beaubois 1-2, Barea 0-1, Carroll 0-1). Fouled out -Jerebko, Beaubois. Rebounds -Detroit 45 (Brown 7), Dallas 49 (Humphries 9). Assists -Detroit 19 (Daye, Gordon 3), Dallas 29 (Barea 7). Total fouls -Detroit 23, Dallas 25. Technicals -Wilcox, Detroit defensive three second, Dallas Coach Carlisle. A 17,555 (19,200).
