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DALLAS — Santi Aldama has played three games for the Dallas Mavericks without much practice time next to his new teammates. In the third of them Monday night, he scored 10 points in 19 minutes of a 125-122 win over the Indiana Pacers at American Airlines Center.
Aldama went 4-of-9 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range, adding 4 rebounds and an assist. He missed Dallas’ first eight games before making his Mavericks debut, and he came into Monday averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 14.0 minutes over two games.
Playing next to stars with that much gravity makes everything way easier, Aldama said. The rest, he said, has come through communication.
“It’s not easy, but honestly, credit to my teammates,” Aldama said. “Going out there and not really practicing with them, just a lot of communication and learning on the fly. But they’ve really made it easy for me to just go out there and play basketball.”
Kyrie Irving scored 35 points and Cooper Flagg had a season-high 43. When the ball finds him next to them, Aldama said, he is going to be more open than not.
“When you have guys that can score every single time down the floor, it’s great for the team, but also great for everybody that plays with them, right?” Aldama explained. “Because when you get the ball, you’re going to be more open than not, right? So it’s about making the right read, being aggressive, the right balance, and just finding them when they’re open. So, like I said, just when you have guys with that amount of gravity, everything’s way easier.”
Santi Aldama Steps In With Morez Johnson Jr. Out
Dallas played without rookie Morez Johnson Jr., who has a left shin contusion. Johnson had come off the bench in all 10 games, averaging 17.0 minutes, 7.6 points, and 5.1 rebounds. Aldama played all of his minutes in the first three quarters.
His first basket Monday was a 2-foot hook off his own offensive rebound in the first quarter, and he converted the free throw for a three-point play. He also hit a 3-pointer from Flagg late in the second quarter. In the third, Aldama scored on a 9-foot driving hook from Irving and a fast-break layup from Naji Marshall on back-to-back trips, cutting Indiana’s lead to 81-77.
Flagg said a next-man mentality is part of the team’s identity. Without Johnson, he said, Aldama stepped up.
“We’re able to do our thing, but it’s a next-man mentality,” Flagg said. “No Morez tonight. I thought Santi stepped up, played really, really well. So I mean, just the identity of our team, just making the right plays and everybody having that trust in each other.”
The last four games have been Dallas’ best on the offensive glass, Aldama said, and the Mavericks finished with 10 offensive rebounds to Indiana’s 1. On defense, he said, the Mavericks did the opposite of finding the hot hand once Pascal Siakam scored 26 in the first half. Siakam had 3 after halftime.
“We want it,” Aldama said. “Last three games have been amazing. Four now, actually. So last four games we’ve been an elite offensive rebounding team, and we just got to keep doing it. I think it’s obviously we work on it, but like just a lot of will. You want to come up with the ball, 50-50 ball. It’s ours.”
Dusty May, Kyrie Irving On What Aldama Brings
Earlier in the homestand, Mavericks coach Dusty May described Aldama as a psycho competitor. Asked Monday whether Flagg fits the same description, May separated the two.
“I would call Coop an elite competitor,” May said. “Santi has the crazy eyes when he’s competing. Coop just stays in his just full-fledged win mode. Sorry, Santi.”
Aldama spent his first five NBA seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies. Irving said Aldama was a spacer there who could play as a four-five mix and also slide to the three when a team goes small.
“Santi’s growing better in this league, and anytime you’re coming back from injury, I think his first basket was a layup, I believe,” Irving said. “So just anytime you can get yourself going and getting back into the rhythm, and you’re coming back in the beginning of the season, could feel a little awkward. Your body could feel a little bit out of rhythm, but it’s our job to make the game easy, and he can use our gravity to his advantage.”
“And he’s done such a great job of being a spacer for the previous team he played on, Memphis, and being able to be available as a four-five mix, but also play the three spot, and if we do go small, it’s just diversifying, I feel like, lineups that we can have out there, and he’s very complementary to what we’re doing and what we’re building,” Irving continued. “So I’m grateful that we can have him out there, but it also starts with our pace and our point of attack and being able to get downhill, being able to create other opportunities when we know defense is geared towards us.”
Aldama is listed at 7 feet. Dallas used 10 players Monday, and Irving said the team has played 10 or 11 at times this season.
The Mavericks (7-4) open a three-game road trip Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center, with tip-off at 7 p.m. CT.
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