Despite a disappointing and controversial late game loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night, the Mavericks have captured the attention of the Metroplex with their 2-1 start.  The duo of Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic are leading an electrifying offense with highlight worthy plays popping up more than most can keep up with while scrolling through Twitter during a game.

Luka to KP for the slam AND-1!#MFFL | 📺: https://t.co/CHCUy5JeyL pic.twitter.com/ZOrGj1Z4hG

— x – Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) October 28, 2019

Prior to the loss on Sunday, Dallas’ 2-0 start was their best since they started the 2004-2005 season 4-0. To give you a better grasp of how long it has been since the Mavericks have been off to that kind of start, back in November 2004 Don Nelson was starting his final season as coach of the Mavericks.  Jason Terry was in his first season in Dallas after coming over in a trade in Atlanta that summer.  Dirk Nowitzki was just 26 years old and entering the prime of his career. Current Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was with the Indiana Pacers who were just a couple weeks away from the infamous “Malice at the Palace” with the Detroit Pistons.

Luka Doncic was just five years old!

Outside of basketball, George W. Bush had just been re-elected to his second term as president after defeating John Kerry in the election. “My Boo” by Usher and Ciara was the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. The Incredibles was the number one movie at the box office.  Our current president was merely a rich reality TV star.

What a time.

Back in 2019, the Mavericks are 2-1 and each game has provided various reasons to be incredibly excited about this team’s present and future.  If you were able to attend either the home opener or Sunday night’s game at the American Airlines Center, you can tell there is something different in the air at the AAC this season.  There is a palpable buzz that just hasn’t been present since probably the unforgettable spring of 2011.

With a close game in the fourth quarter on Sunday night, the final stretch of the game saw the crowd be as pumped up as possible with chants of “de-fense” and “Let’s go Mavs” way louder than the noise being blasted through the speakers.  Not only were the fans in the 300’s level up on their feet down the stretch, but even those fortunate enough to be close to the court were up and making noise as well.

As someone who has routinely been going to Mavs games at the American Airlines Center since it opened (and virtually all home games this season and last thanks to my opportunities with DSF), it has been a long time since you could consistently depend on a Mavs crowd being into games without being prompted.  When the Mavericks were on their big first half run that built them an 18 point lead or when Seth Curry was nailing shots in the fourth to tie the game, the deafening blast from the crowd was a callback to the days of Steve Nash, Dirk and Michael Finley making big time fourth quarter runs against the likes of the Spurs or the Kings. It was a great feeling.

With the next home game being against the hated Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, the energy and buzz in the arena should be insane.  If you’re on the fence about whenever you need to get back to the AAC this season, do it as soon as possible.  This new era of Mavericks basketball is simply can’t miss stuff.