MACAO — Sergio de Larrea finished plus-34 in 22:25 off the bench Sunday, the best mark on either side of the Dallas Mavericks’ 132-115 preseason win over the Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena.
The rookie guard had 9 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals on 3-of-7 shooting. In the fourth quarter alone he had 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, setting up a Tobi Lawal alley-oop, a Seth Lundy 3-pointer, and a Tarik Biberovic layup that made it 132-113 with 23.2 seconds left.
De Larrea scored 11 points with 6 assists in Friday’s 135-117 loss to Houston, the opener of the NBA China Games 2026 series. Dallas acquired his draft rights, the No. 25 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, from the Los Angeles Lakers on June 24, and he signed with the Mavericks on July 3. The 6-foot-5 guard from Spain turns 21 in December.
Dusty May Says Sergio de Larrea Is Making Teammates Better
Mavericks coach Dusty May sees de Larrea as a great leader who is still developing his voice. The plus-minus caught May’s eye.
“You look at the plus-minus and he’s pretty good,” May said. “Consistently helping his teammates be better than they would when he’s not on the floor. He’s a great leader, he’s still developing his voice, but he’s just a guy that plays to win every single possession.”
“He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s playing high-level games … so he just continues to get better, and he’s a sponge,” May continued. “So we anticipate him continuing to grow and develop.”
Dwight Powell Helps Organize Mavericks’ Young Second Unit
Dwight Powell played 14:58 as the backup center and finished with 3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a plus-14. Dereck Lively II and Santi Aldama did not play by coach’s decision.
Powell’s job with the second unit is connecting the group and keeping it organized, May said, with de Larrea, Max Christie, and Zaccharie Risacher among the young players around him.
“I think when you watch the game, it’s fairly obvious that his ability to connect and keep the group organized, and when you look at the age of, especially, our second unit, and you take Sergio and Max and Zacch and all these young guys, and it just gives us another pressure release outlet, and he generates great looks,” May explained. “He’s just a very, very smart veteran basketball player.”
“So there’s a number of different components to development of young players, and putting them out there with guys who are trying to assist them, make them better, screen well for them, it’s just a decision,” May continued. “We felt like we’re playing well with him on the floor. The groups continue to function well, and so we’re very, very comfortable.”
Powell scored on a cutting layup from Caleb Martin and made the free throw with 2:56 left in the third quarter, part of a 15-2 run that turned a 77-77 tie into a 92-79 lead.
Zaccharie Risacher Continues Settling Into Mavericks Lineups
Risacher scored 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting, with 14 of them coming in the second half on 6-of-8 shooting. Both of his offensive rebounds ended in tip dunks. He had 9 points and 8 rebounds in the opener. Dallas acquired Risacher from the Atlanta Hawks on July 19 in a three-team trade that sent Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta.
After Friday’s game, May’s challenge to Risacher was to rebound better. Several Dallas combinations in Macao had never played together, May said.
“We challenged Zacch to simply rebound better, and he got a couple offensive rebounds,” May said. “He’s got great instincts for the ball. So he’s really just learning how to play off of his teammates, and then you throw P.J. in, you throw Kyrie in, and so these guys are all still learning themselves. There’s several combinations that have never played together, and we’re figuring it out on the fly.”
“But I thought in the second half of both games, he settled in and just looked like he was playing at ease,” May added. “Looked like he was lost in the flow of the game, so he’ll continue to get more and more comfortable with our terminology, our schemes, as teammates, and we expect him to improve as we get going.”
Dusty May Says Mavericks Still Learning How To Play Around Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving scored 17 points in 21:56 in his first game since tearing the ACL in his left knee on March 3, 2025. Teammates sometimes stop and watch Irving instead of cutting to open bigger gaps for him, according to May.
“When the games opened up and we’re rebounding it well, those guys were dynamic in the open court,” May said. “When we were giving up the second shots and deflating plays, we still weren’t getting into our actions quick enough. I think sometimes everyone kind of just stops and watches Kyrie instead of, I think especially where we are, I think a little bit more cutting to open up bigger gaps for him and a little bit of off-ball movement will make the game simpler for him, because he’s gonna make the right decision.”
“So we’re still working on our spacing and our relocations and figuring out what our schemes are gonna be when we have our nucleus,” May detailed. “But it’s a work in progress, and so, but he gives you a lot of options.”
Dallas scored 24 fast-break points to Houston’s 11. The Rockets had 27 second-chance points on 21 offensive rebounds.
May left Macao with a roster he described as a mix of veterans who have been through the battles and young players eager to fit in any way they can.
“I think we have great depth,” May said. “We have a good mix of veteran players that have been through the battles, and then they’re complemented with some young, eager guys that are trying to fit in in any way, shape, or form. And so it just provides an interesting dynamic. We’ve got these young, youthful guys that probably still need to get stronger, and then you have some older guys who we really need to contribute to helping them get up to speed if we’re going to be the type of team we’re capable of being.”
The Mavericks host the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday at American Airlines Center, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. CT.
