‘Most Athletic Perimeter Defenders’: Dusty May Wants Atlanta Hawks To Test Dallas Mavericks’ Ball Security, Transition Defense

DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Dusty May wants the Atlanta Hawks to test his team’s ball security and transition defense in Friday night’s preseason finale at American Airlines Center. Two days earlier, Dallas committed 27 turnovers in a 101-97 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Atlanta brings two All-Defensive perimeter players to Dallas. Dyson Daniels led the NBA in steals in 2024-25 at 3.0 per game and won Most Improved Player that season. He made the All-Defensive First Team in 2025 and the All-Defensive Second Team in 2026.

The Hawks traded for Luguentz Dort in July in the three-team deal that sent Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas. Dort made the All-Defensive First Team in 2025 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dallas spent a week in Macao, splitting two games with the Houston Rockets, before it returned home. The trip exposed a few things in the Mavericks’ system, and May said the staff has been doing self-evaluation on those since.

“First and foremost, there are a few things that we needed that exposed themselves in Macao. And we don’t want to chase five rabbits. We want to try to solve a few of our problems,” May said. “A lot of times, you’re predicting what they’re going to be. Sometimes you just don’t hit it because you haven’t been able to expose it about yourself. But there were a few things in our system that were exposed, and we’ve gotten much closer to fixing them.”

“So there’s a couple things there that we’re really doing self-evaluation on. And then tonight I’m anxious to see us against some of the fastest, most athletic perimeter defenders in the league. One of the more disruptive teams in Atlanta that certainly tests your transition defense,” May continued. “We made a big, big jump in our transition defense and our guys getting back. Our guys have had an urgency to get back and get matched up. And so this will give us an opportunity to test against a team that really applies pressure on the three-point line in transition.”

Dusty May On Turnovers And Pressure Releases Against Atlanta Hawks

Dallas won the rebounding battle 48-40 against New Orleans on Wednesday. May wants the work on the offensive glass to carry into every game, with the turnovers cleaned up.

“The turnovers, we’ve stressed forcing more, and we’ve tried to pick up our pressure. But, yeah, we need to take care of the ball better. We need to win the shots battle,” May explained. “We’ve been aggressive on the offensive glass, so we want that to be a staple every night where we’re aggressive in that area and not getting burned in transition. But the turnovers are one of the big things.”

Rookie Sergio de Larrea, the 25th overall pick in June, played a team-high 30 minutes against New Orleans. He finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers. Dallas acquired his draft rights from the Los Angeles Lakers on June 24.

Each lineup has its strengths and weaknesses, May said, and the staff has to find a way to give de Larrea and the other young ball handlers more space.

“We have to find pressure releases from other avenues. We’ve used the five, we’ve used backcourt ball screens, we’ve used some actions to free them up,” May said. “It’s not ideal to have to game plan to get in this stuff. Each lineup has its strengths and weaknesses, and so we’ve got to figure out a way to give those guys a little bit more space.”

“But once again, that’s the exciting part of this game being in preseason. Such a well-coached team, and we’ll definitely be better and more prepared for the regular season because of this one tonight,” May added.

May On The Mavericks’ Three-Point Shot Selection

Dallas held a meeting on its three-point shooting through three preseason games. Some of the shots, the staff decided, were as good as the Mavericks could generate. Others needed more rhythm and more players involved.

“We even had a meeting just on our three-point shooting up to this point,” May said. “The key is to pause it when the shot’s released out of their hand and say, do you like the shot, without resulting, or we don’t like the shot.”

“And so some of them we thought, these are great shots, we’re not going to generate anything better. And then others we thought, hey, we could probably find a little more rhythm, a little more involvement with everyone to get a better shot,” May continued. “So we’ll continue to hunt early great shots and, if we don’t get them, try to get into multiple actions.”

A paint touch is not a requirement for a good three in May’s system. Against a defense that packs the paint, drawing two defenders and passing can be the right play even if the ball never goes inside.

“The paint thing is so subjective,” May said. “Obviously the paint, it’s the exact same, but when they’re packing the paint and their body’s there, when we draw two and we pass, you didn’t hit the paint, but that’s exactly what you want against that type of defense.”

“I think when you watch shooters shoot, the ball doesn’t necessarily have to hit that painted section. It’s just you create an advantage, draw another body, and you kick. Ideally, the deeper in the paint, kick out, because then you’re eliminating turns. You’re just catching and shooting,” May noted. “So that’s ideal, but those are also extremely difficult to get.”

“So it’s all of it. Is it a shot that guys have made in practice, that you’ve seen them work on on the side?” May added. “So no, not necessarily paint touches, but we would like to be after advantages are created, and then off the pass, obviously, is a much higher percentage.”

Friday’s game starts at 7 p.m. CT, five days before Dallas opens the regular season in Houston.