Dallas Mavericks - Real Madrid live online: summary, stats and updates, NBA 2023-24 Preseason

Madrid weren't playing around but the Mavs can be positive.

While there was nothing at stake between the two teams on Tuesday night, it was plain to see from tip off that Real Madrid were intent on proving they can play with the best of the best. Following a season in which they were crowned European champions for a record 10th time, 'Los Blancos' were clearly keen to show a wider audience that they're the best the continent has.

Of course, it would be ignoring the gorilla in the room if we didn't address the idea that a certain former Madrid player was unable to make any meaningful contribution on the night. Yes, we're speaking of former Real Madrid star and current Mavericks playmaker, Luka Doncic. As per reports, the Slovenian star tweaked his calf in training yesterday and despite copious amounts of begging, was finally limited to 5 minutes of play. Needless to say, both he and the many fans who came to see their one-time hero were very disappointed. With that said, neither team disappointed.

So, what can we take from this game. On the Mavs' side, we should say that it wasn't just Doncic who was out, but also the ever talented Kyrie Irving. Indeed, the former Nets point guard has been struggling with injury for sometime now and was seen in street clothes, something that should tell you he's got a while to go yet. With that said, Seth Curry should come in for mention, as should Jaden Hardy, and Dereck Lively II. The trio were tireless on both ends of the court throughout the game. To that end, if there is one thing the Mavs can takeaway from this despite the loss, it's that their roster is solid in both defense and offense. Dallas did not lack for scoring opportunities, nor did they really fail to convert them, even though their best two weapons didn't play.

As for Real Madrid, it has to be said that the European champs are very much a solid team from top to bottom. From Vincent Poirier who was immense in defense, to Facundo Campazzo who controlled the rhythm of the game, it's clear that they are worthy champions. Special mention should be made of Edy Tavares who posed a serious problem for the Mavs in the paint on both offense and defense. Lastly, there was Guerschon Yabusele. A 7-footer who plays like a forward, his future is bright.

With that, I'd like to thankyou for joining me here on AS USA for our coverage of what was an NBA preseason exhibition game between the Dallas Mavericks and Real Madrid.

Thankyou and goodnight!

That's a wrap folks. Real Madrid have pulled off an impressive win against an NBA team. That's not to disrespect the European champions in anyway, but exhibition or not, it's worth noting.

After a flurry of misses Poirier finally comes up with a defensive rebound for Madrid. It looks like it's about to be a famous win for the team from the Spanish capital.

Huge block from Vincent Poirier on A.J. Lawson's 5-foot shot. He dishes to Campazzo who is fouled and will go to the line. He makes both.

Olivier Maxence Prosper ties the game at 120 a piece and the Mavs call a time out with about a minute on the clock, following a Campazzo layup to give Madrid a 2-point lead.

After a Richaun Holmes miss for the Mavs, it's Rudy Fernandez who claims the rebound and dishes it to Campazzo who scores on his layup.Madrid lead by 2.

Guerschon Yabusele comes up with the defensive rebound

A.J. Lawson makes the resulting free throw and off we go again.

Indeed, Fernandez is called for a transition take foul.

Madrid is pushing this one now and it's Campazzo with a rebound. Rudy Fernandez receives his pass but misses and immediately fouls.

And away we go once more. This time it's Jaden Hardy who steps out for Joe Wieskamp. There's an immediate foul, however, and Rudy Fernandez will go to the line. He makes both.

Jordan Walker commits a foul and the Mavs will call a timeout.

Campazzo misses a jumpshot and the Mavs come away with it but Jaden Hardy also misses allowing Campazzo to grab the rebound.

Campazzo is fouled and he will got to the line. He makes them both.

A.J. Lawson makes 27-foot three point jumper to restore some order.

It's Guerschon Yabusele with a huge dunk to make it a three point game.

Guerschon Yabusele makes 27-foot three point jumper to close the gap. We're heading for a tight finish!

Facundo Campazzo makes 26-foot three point jumper (Dzanan Musa assists)

That'll be the last for the moment for Tavares as he leaves for Vincent Poirier

That's Tavares again with a big block on Dexter Dennis.

Tavares makes up for his transgression with a difficult shot from a close angle for two.

Edy Tavares commits an offensive foul and it will be the Mavs who take over the ball once more.

A.J. Lawson enters the game for Dante Exum as the Mavs make some changes.

A big bucket from Rudy Fernandez who makes 26-foot step back jumpshot (Facundo Campazzo assists).

The Mavs' Olivier-Maxence Prosper turns over the ball and you can see his frustration. Madrid are on the attack.

Facundo Campazzo enters the game for Sergio Rodriguez

That's Edy Tavares with an offensive rebound but his follow up shot misses which sees the Mavs take possession once again.

Sergio Gomez tries from distance but the Madrid man can't find the bucket.

Richaun Holmes enters the game for Dereck Lively II

Here we go again.

Dexter Dennis makes an easy 2 and Madrid call a timeout.

Sergio Rodriguez makes a bad pass resulting in a Dexter Dennis steal.

Edy Tavares enters the game for Vincent Poirier

Madrid's Eli John Ndiaye enters the game for Guerschon Yabusele

Olivier-Maxence Prosper tries his luck again but this time from long range. His 26-foot three point jumper misses.

That's Olivier-Maxence Prosper who enters the game with some attitude as he throws down a dunk for the Mavs and then follows it up with a jumper.

That's Poirier with an alley oop dunk off a Rodriguez pass. Both men are having a solid night.

Guerschon Yabusele is fouled and will go to the line. He makes them both and on we go.

Dereck Lively II attempts an alley oop to stomp some authority on the game, but he's blocked by Poirier who shows it means something to him.

Sergio Rodriguez with another 3-pointer. He's making this a habit.

Here we are once more and Sergio Rodrigues clearly got the memo as he starts us off with a three pointer.

As we head to the 4th

Though we've seen a spirited effort from Madrid in the 3rd, one can definitely see the gulf in class more clearly now that fatigue is beginning to play a factor. Powell in particular has been something to watch as he's contributed some important points and stops.

Where Madrid is concerned they will likely feel frustrated by the fact that they've not struggle to create shooting opportunities or claim offensive rebounds, they've just simply been unable to score.

Of course, all of this has been without very much action from the man everybody wanted to see, Luka Doncic.

Rudy Fernandez gets off a three point attempt but no luck and it's a final rebound for Tim Hardaway Jr. to close out the 3rd quarter. We're at 99-90 Mavs.

A foul on Dwight Powell by Vincent Poirier. Powell will go to the line where he sinks both of his shots. We're in the final seconds of the quarter.

Guerschon Yabusele makes 26-foot three point jumper off of a Sergio Rodriguez assist.

Vincent Poirier makes tip shot to keep things close but that's quickly cancelled out by a Tim Hardaway Jr. steal.

Alberto Abalde enters the game for Sergio Llull

Back at it. Josh Green immediately adds another two with a tip in following Tim Hardaway Jr's three-point attempt.

Tim Hardaway Jr. restores some calm with a three pointer and Real Madrid call a timeout.

And another rebound from Powell who dishes it to Grant Williams, but he's unable to score as Sergio Llull takes it from him.

Powell with another. offensive rebound after Hardaway missed his layup

Dwight Powell again making his presence felt as he gets in for an alley oop dunk off of an Exum pass.

That's Poirier with a great steal but there are no points to reward his effort. There is another steal by Sergio Rodriguez who sees it taken back by Dwight Powell who makes an easy 2.

Oooooo that's Grant Williams with a timely shot from beyond the arc.

Here we go again. Josh Green has entered for Derrick Jones Jr., while Sergio Rodriguez has come in for Facundo Campazzo.

Poirier for another alley oop but this time he's not so fortunate. Real Madrid will call a timeout. It's 86-80.

Poirier for another alley oop but this time he's not so fortunate. Real Madrid will call a timeout. It's 86-80.

The teams are trading blows at this point but with no scores, just rebound after rebound. That's finally brought to an end by a Vincent Poirier alley oop from Rudy Fernandez.

Facundo Campazzo attempts to close the gap but his attempt from beyond the arc isn't good. A big rebound from Grant Williams is the result.

Poirier is immediately fouled and will go to the line once again. He makes them both.

Sergio Llull from downtown but his shot is off the mark. The Mavs will bring the ball up court with Seth Curry entering the game once again.

That's a foul on Dzanan Musa who will go to the line. He makes them both. We've got a score of 84-78 Mavs.

Edy Tavares will take his leave as Vincent Poirier enters for him.

That's Edy Taveres with a foul on Dante Exum. The Mavs' player will go to the line where he sinks them both.

Sergio Llull is called for the personal foul but there will be no free throws.

Here we go again and this time it's Grant Williams who commits the foul on Edy Tavares who makes both of his free throws. The big man can shoot.

It's another Dereck (Jones) who gets the steal and a quick 2. We're now at 80-69 Mavs and it's Real Madrid who call a timeout.

As if that wasn't enough its Derrick Jones Jr. once more but he misses the alley oop dunk with a slight smile on his face.

That's Derrick Jones Jr. once again making his name known as he drives to the basket for two.

Seth Curry follows that up with a crafty layup in the lane, but any celebration is quickly cancelled out by another bucket from Campazzo.

That's Sergio Llull with a big three pointer from 26 feet out.

Facundo Campazzo tries from long range but his effort is unsuccessful which leads to a Derrick Jones Jr. rebound.

We're back at it and it's Seth Curry who gets things off and running as he commits a personal foul. Interestingly, he entered the game for Doncic who as mentioned before is being limited to 5 minutes per quarter.

Takeaways

To be honest, we've not seen anything we didn't already know. First off, we've got Real Madrid who are clearly a serious basketball team. Between Prorier, Tavares, and Campazzo, 'Los Blancos' have been hard to handle.

On the other hand, one has to give it to the Mavs. With Luka Doncic limited to five minutes a quarter due a calf strain, and Kyrie Irving ruled out completely, the Mavs were always going to struggle for points, but they've definitely managed to show their grit as they battled back to take a lead before half time.

That's a wrap for the first half and it's the Mavs who lead 71-65.

We're about to close out the quarter and it's been a much better effort from the Mavs who are now leading 69-65

It's a bit of a free for all now to close the half as both teams are exchanging blows, not the lesast of which is a three from Hardy.

Tavares is at the line now following a harsh foul from Hardaway Jr. meanwhile Luka Doncic is back in the game and the crowd is definitely happy about it.

Josh Green goes to the line for the Mavs, however, he's unable to convert either one of his free throws. Madrid pushes on.

Another foul from Edy Taveres. He will need to watch himself.

That's Seth Curry with yet another shot from a tight angle. The Mavs are cutting the lead. It's now 60-56.

Jaden Hardy goes to the line after a hard foul from Taveres and he goes to the line where he makes both of his free throws.

Dereck Lively II manages to sink a difficult fadeaway jumper for two. The Mavericks are beginning to come alive.

We're inside the final five minutes of the the quarter and Madrid still holds the lead at 57-51 as Tavares goes to the line.

Ismaila Diagne is fouled and goes to the line where he makes both of his free throws.

Hardy with another slashing drive for the quick 2. We're on 53-49 Madrid.

Another hard foul but this time it's from Madrid's Causeur. With that said, there will be no free throws and it's Sergio Llull who gets the rebound. Back up the court we go.

We're off and running once again and I've got to say that there is definitely a competitive nature to this game, as seen by the hard foul from Hardy on Musa

Seth Curry finds Jaden Hardy who is fouled for his trouble. He will go to the line. The score is currently 48-45 in Madrid's favor after Hardy makes both of his shots from the line. Real Madrid will call a timeout.

That's Fabien Causeur with a timely defensive rebound and Madrid are back at it. Unforunately they're not finding the basket at the moment,.

We're back and immediately Dereck Lively II announces himself with a dunk for the Mavericks.

Madrid's Sergio Llull tosses the alleyoop to Vincent Porier for the dunk and at that point the Mavs have seen enough. Time out.

Dzanan Musa misses driving layup after a nice cut to the ring. You can see his frustration.

After one quarter, I've got to say that the word to describe Real Madrid has got to be clean. From their defense to their offense, there is a polished nature about the way they play.

Rodrigruez will go to the line after a crafty jump shot for which he was fouled by Curry.

The Mavs lead for the first time tonight after Tim Hardaway Jr. goes coast to coast for the layup. Of course the Mavs must have heard me an they are back in front at 41-39.

We're off and running once again and the Mavericks have started where they left off with a huge block from Porier on Seth Curry. The score still stands at 38-37.

That's the end of the first quarter and it's 'Los Blancos' who hold a slim lead after 1 quarter.

So to be clear, Luka Doncic will in fact be playing tonight as we've just been updated, however, he will be limited to 5 minutes per quarter due to a calf strain that he picked up during training. We're currently at 38-25 Madid with 48 seconds on the clock.

Porier with a strong block on Seth Curry, but he steps out of bounds and the Mavs will call a timeout.

The Mavericks have now hit 7 threes in this game as they currently sit on a 32-29 lead.With that said Dwight Powell picks up a rebound and takes it down court.

I spoke to soon. He's just gone an made another three pointer. This game is becoming a shooting showcase from both teams.

Tim Hardaway Jr. again with a nifty play but this time he can't sink his 23-footer.

We're continuing to have some technical issues here but we're back with you for the moment. We've just crossed the 4 minute mark and Real Madrid are currently leading 30-26.

We've got a timeout following another bucket from Tim Hardaway. He's making a habit of that.

That's Yabusee with a difficult shot from the corner.

Luka is now out of the game for a breather and Tim Hardaway has come into replace him. He immediately drains a difficult shot from the paint and it's 22-18 Madrid.

We're back for the moment and the current score is 71-16 in Real Madrid's favor. Make that 20-16 after Madrid drains another 3 pointer. That makes 6 made threes for Real Madrid so far in the game.

Technical difficulties

Unfortunately folks, we've lost our feed, but will be back with you as soon as possible. Stay with me!

We're off and running here in Madrid and the Mavs have got the first 2 of the night but Madrid comes right back at them with their first points as well.

But wait....Luka Doncic won't play!

As we now understand it, Luka Doncic will NOT be playing tonight, after we were informed that the Mavs have chosen to rest their star following concerns about his fitness.

This is understandably a major blow to fans who were hoping to catch a glimpse of the player who gave them so much, but with the coming NBA season, one can understand why the team from Dallas has chosen to rest their talisman.

But first a word from Luka

The Slovenian star is currently on the court saying a word to the Madrid fans who welcomed him into their hearts some years ago. With a heartfelt 'thank you' he's now dropped the mic, as he prepares to give them a taste of his skill set one more time, only tonight, it won't be in their favor.

It's almost game time!

We're now just minutes away from tip off and as you probably know by now we've got the Dallas Mavericks vs Real Madrid. Luka Doncic has returned home to take on his former team in what promises to be an exciting contest.

On one side, we've got the European champions who will be keen to show the world they can play with the best. Where the Mavs are concerned, they will undoubtedly be hoping to demonstrate that they're a better team than the one that fell short of expectations last season. Stay with us, it's gonna be a good one!

A litmus test for the Mavericks

There's no way to deny the idea that tonight's game will be more about the Mavericks showing they are ready to be contenders in the NBA than anything else.

Yes, this is an exhibition game and as such one can expect to see the team from Dallas experimenting with the roster, while Madrid will be looking to show that as European champions, they can hold their own against any NBA team.

With all of that said, the Mavs have some defensive issues to address, and if there is a team from across the pond that can ask difficult questions of them, it's Madrid. This is going to be interesting.

From friends to rivals

Having played together with both Real Madrid and the Dallas Mavericks, the Argentine and the Slovenian are well acquainted with each other. It will be something to see them on opposite sides when the teams take to the court tonight.

It's good to be home

Risking the wrath of Mavericks fans, it's the happiest we've seen Doncic in some time...

Memories

This was the game that announced Doncic to the world. Since then it's been nothing but the same.

NBA

Kyrie Irving injury update: How serious is it? Will he play in the Mavs season opener?

Say what you want about him, but Kyrie Irving is a generational talent. Indeed, that's why his absence will be felt by basketball fans who were hoping to get a glimpse of the enigmatic but sensational point guard. One can only hope that he has a speedy recovery. The Mavs will be counting on it.

Luka Doncic, Real Madrid, and the rivalry with the NBA

From his past in Madrid, to his current situation in Dallas, it's almost impossible to deny the talent that is Luka Doncic. The Serbian conquered Europe as a teenager, and then took his show on the road to the NBA where he has since proven he deserves to be among the best. Here's a look at a few things you should know for the purpose of context.

Welcome Welcome Welcome

There's no way to avoid the obvious fact that tonight's game is set to be a special one. Though for some it may just be and NBA preseason game, basketball fans will get the chance to witness both a showcase of talent and a bit of nostalgia at the same time.

As you probably know, the Dallas Mavericks will be in Spain to play the defending European champions, Real Madrid. To add more spice to the mix, it will be an opportunity to see the Mavs' best player, Luka Doncic, playing against the team that he became a household name with. Indeed, five years on from his move from the Spanish capital and Doncic has proven he is most definitely worth the hype he crossed the pond with.

I know, I know. It's just an exhibition game. On the other hand, back in 2016, we saw a then 17-year-old Doncic announce himself to the world as Madrid took apart the Oklahoma City Thunder. This of course leads us to wonder whether we will see yet another player come to the fore tonight. Regardless, if one thing is assured it's that we're in for not only a clash of styles, but a a clash of greats. The only question that remains is who will come out on top.