Hawks, Schroder spoil Smith's debut, top Mavericks 117-111

 Dennis Schroder scored 28 points in his first game as the front man for Atlanta and the rebuilding Hawks spoiled rookie Dennis Smith Jr.'s solid Dallas debut, beating the Mavericks 117-111 in the opener Wednesday night.

Marco Belinelli, a familiar face for the Mavericks as a former rival with San Antonio, added 20 points and was 4 of 6 from 3-point range to help the Hawks in their first game after letting Paul Millsap leave in free agency and dumping Dwight Howard.

Smith scored his first NBA points on an alley-oop dunk to open the Dallas scoring and finished with 16 points and a game-high 10 assists.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting and the 39-year-old German joined Kobe Bryant (Lakers) as the only players to reach 20 seasons with the same franchise. He was on the bench in the back-and-forth closing minutes.

Dewayne Dedmon followed a miss by Schroder for a layup to put Atlanta up 113-111 with 58 seconds left. Taurean Prince rebounded a missed 3 from Belinelli with the shot clock off and made both free throws for a four-point lead.

Schroder, Nowitzki's German countryman, was 13 of 26 from the field and led the Hawks with seven assists. All but three of his shots were inside the 3-point line.

The 19-year-old Smith, the ninth overall pick and Dallas' most important draft choice since Nowitzki 19 years ago, wasn't the only first-round rookie to play well. Atlanta's John Collins, the 19th pick, scored 14 points.

Nerlens Noel matched Smith with 16 points, his most since coming to Dallas at the trading deadline last season, and had 11 rebounds. Wesley Matthews scored all of his 15 points in the second half.

TIP-INS

Hawks: Prince had 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Hawks outrebounded the Mavericks 50-41. ... Schroder capped a 12-0 run late in the first half with a layup for a 56-45 lead, and the Hawks led by that margin at halftime.

Mavericks: G Seth Curry, Golden State star Stephen Curry's younger brother, missed the opener with a stress fracture in his lower left leg. He's out indefinitely. ... Smith asked out of the game and limped through the tunnel in the second quarter after landing awkwardly on his left leg when he was fouled on a dunk. He returned later in the quarter.

UP NEXT

Hawks: At Charlotte on Friday night.

Mavericks: Sacramento at home Friday night in a "20-20" matchup: Vince Carter, Nowitzki's former teammate, is also in his 20th season.

Rockets top Mavs 106-98 with Nowitzki out for home opener

 James Harden walked the ball up the court in the final seconds of the third quarter, then decided he didn't want to set up the offense.

The Houston star simply pulled up and hit a long 3-pointer for the first double-digit lead during a late-quarter run that put the Rockets in control for good.

Trevor Ariza scored 27 points, Harden had 26 and Houston beat Dallas 106-98 with Dirk Nowitzki missing from the Mavericks' home opener Friday night.

Harden went scoreless while playing the entire first quarter, missing all five shots, before getting 10 points in the second and 12 in the third, including the punctuating 3 that followed two others on a 10-2 run to finish the quarter.

"I was in a groove and it was time to close out the quarter," Harden said. "Think that's one of the things that we're preaching is we got to end quarters the right way."

Harrison Barnes, playing his first home game for the Mavericks after signing a max contract in the summer, had a career-high 31 points.

Nowitzki didn't play for just the second time in 19 home openers with Dallas. The 38-year-old had a stomach ailment bad enough that coach Rick Carlisle wasn't sure he would make the trip to Houston for the Rockets' home opener Sunday.

"Dirk's not going to be around here forever. And we're going to be sitting him sometimes this year," Carlisle said. "The other guys have got to step up and step forward. And I'm one of them. We've all got to really raise the level of our game when a guy like that's not on the floor."

Two nights after recording a career-high 17 assists in an opening loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Harden had eight assists and seven rebounds.

Ariza was 5 of 7 from 3-point range, including one early in the fourth quarter to push Houston's lead back to nine points. He was fouled on 3-pointers twice and made all six free throws.

TIP-INS

Rockets: Harden became the second player in NBA history with at least 30 points and 15 assists in an opener when he had 34 points and 17 assists in the 120-114 loss to the Lakers. Tim Hardaway had 32 and 18 for Golden State at Denver in 1990. ... Eric Gordon was the other double-figure scorer for Houston with 18 points. ... Clint Capela had nine rebounds.

Mavericks: Dallas has the two highest totals for 3-point attempts in a game in league history after shooting 48 in the 130-121 overtime loss to Indiana in the opener. The Mavericks made 18 (38 percent). Dallas shot a record 49 on March 5, 1996, against New Jersey, also making 18 (37 percent). ... Andrew Bogut, a starter alongside Barnes at Golden State before both joined Dallas after the Warriors landed Kevin Durant in free agency, had a game-high 12 rebounds. ... Deron Williams had 14 points, but just one in the second half.

FILLING IN FOR DIRK

The only other home opener Nowitzki missed was in 2012 when he sat the first 27 games recovering from knee surgery. Sliding over to power forward, Barnes was strong inside and out, going 13 of 23 from the field with five rebounds. "I think he has a chance to be a very special player. I've felt that all along," Carlisle said.

DEFENSIVE TURNAROUND

After giving up 51 percent shooting in the loss to the Lakers, the Rockets allowed Dallas to shoot 52 percent in the first quarter while Barnes scored 12 points . But the Mavericks were held to 15 of 40 (38 percent) in the second and third quarters, when Houston outscored them 53-43. "We can't just rely on offense or James bailing us out like he did a lot last year," Ariza said. "We have to do it collectively on the defensive end."

SHOOTING STRUGGLES

Dallas' Wesley Matthews scored 13 points on a second straight bad shooting night. He's 7 of 30 from the field through two games, including 3 of 18 from 3-point range.

LONG-RANGE SUCCESS

The Rockets were 15 of 32 from 3-point range (47 percent). Ariza, Harden (4 of 9) and Gordon (3 of 6) combined to make 12 of 20 from beyond the arc. "I think our legs were a little bit better, and we'll get more in shape as we play more games," first-year coach Mike D'Antoni said.

UP NEXT

The Rockets' home opener Sunday against the Mavericks is their only home game in the first eight this season. One of three five-game road trips - a season high - follows.

Turner's opening act leads Pacers past Mavs, 130-121 in OT

 Myles Turner walked onto center stage Wednesday night - and looked as comfortable in his starring role.

The Indiana Pacers second-year center scored 30 points, tied his career high with 16 rebounds, blocked four shots and made a 3-pointer in overtime that started the decisive 8-0 run in his first opening night start.

If Turner keeps this up, the Pacers could be celebrating a lot more than just a 130-121 season-opening victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

"I was talking to some of my friends about and they were saying `Take it easy on Dallas tonight,'" Turner said. "It was cool to go out like that against my hometown team. After the final buzzer sounded, everything hit me. It was just like, `Wow, I just did that.'"

Before the game, new coach Nate McMillan told reporters he expected NBA teams to defend Turner differently this season and said his budding 20-year-old star would have to adapt. He looked just fine against the Mavs.

In a game that was supposed to be all about the Pacers' revamped roster and new up-tempo style, Turner stole the show by making 13 of 19 shots, coming up with big play after big play and overshadowing All-StarsPaul George and Dirk Nowitzki.

George added 25 points, including another 3 with 55 seconds left to seal Indiana's fifth season-opening win in six years.

"I loved the fight our guys showed in that overtime," McMillan said.

Deron Williams led Dallas with 25 points. J.J. Barea and Nowitzki each had 22 as the Mavs lost their fifth in a row in the series.

Dallas only led twice all night but managed to force overtime when Harrison Barnes' open 3 tied the score at 115 with 2.3 seconds left.

Turner could have won it in regulation with a long buzzer-beating 3, but the shot bounced off the back of the rim.

"He did a little bit of everything to hurt us," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said of Turner. "It was not just one thing he did. He was active and he got the ball in the basket."

TIP-INS

Mavericks: Barnes and Andrew Bogut, the two former Golden State Warriors, finished with 19 points and six points, respectively, in their Dallas debuts. ... Nowitzki didn't make his first basket until almost two minutes into the second quarter. ... Barea played despite being listed as questionable with a sprained left elbow. ... Team owner Mark Cuban attended the game.

Pacers: All five Indiana starters scored in double figures, including Jeff Teague, who had 20 points and eight assists in his first game with his hometown team. ... Indiana had 10 assists in the first quarter and finished with 30. ... The Pacers also had a 52-49 rebounding advantage despite going with their new, up-tempo style. ... The Oak Ridge Boys sang the national anthem.

1, 2, 3, REPEAT

Dallas finished the game 18 of 48 from 3-point range, one short of its own franchise and NBA single-game record set in March 1996 against the New Jersey Nets. Six different players attempted at least six 3s for the Mavs. Indiana, in contrast, was 10 of 19 on 3s and no player attempted more than five.

WELCOME BACK, COACH

McMillan was just as anxious as his new players to get started. McMillan had been the head coach previously in Seattle and Portland, but spent the previous three seasons as Frank Vogel's top assistant in Indiana. "I was surprised he was away from that position as long as he was," Carlisle said. "He's a great coach, and I know him well, personally, too. He'll do a great job."

UP NEXT

Mavericks: Dallas hosts a longtime rival in Houston on Friday night. It is the second of three meetings between the Texas teams during a 12-day span in October. They already played once in the preseason.

Pacers: Forward Thaddeus Young returns to his previous home when the Pacers visit Brooklyn on Friday night. Indiana won three of the four meetings with the Nets last season and is 4-3 all-time at the Barclays Center.