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TORONTO – It took Harrison Barnes to get his legacy in his season.
At least he had an excuse, unlike the rest of his teammates as they fell behind 18-2 before they cleared customs.
They eventually got their act together and pushed the Toronto Raptors into the fourth quarter, largely because of Barnes returned with a solid showing. The Raptors won, 116-107, but that's what they do. They are 6-0 for a reason. And if the Boston Celtics are not taking the Raps seriously in the Eastern Conference, something is very wrong.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are still waiting for their preferred starting five. Barnes was in the lineup for the first time. But Dennis Smith Jr. was not, missing the game with a right ankle sprain suffered Wednesday in Atlanta that originally was not believed to be serious.
Having Barnes back was a plus, for sure. Barnes reared up late in the first quarter for the first quarter of the season, and on Friday.
There was good news, though. He showed no ill effects of the right hamstring strain that sidelined him for a month.
He finished with 14 points and six rebounds. He was in about 30 minutes, although his stretches were kept a few minutes shorter than normal.
"He's a high level player," coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's a guy you can throw the ball to and he can create. going to get him right into the flow. "
That much was obvious. Barnes played shorter stretches of minutes, but still piled up 30 minutes of playing time. He shot the ball OK after the 0-for-3 start. But without Smith, who has had a rocky start to the season, the Mavericks did not look like they had any chemistry on the offensive end.
And their defense was nothing short of a disaster. The Raptors were well over 50 percent of the field most of the game.
Even so, the Mavericks were in a good position, including two free throws by Barnes, which could have given them their first lead of the game.
Instead, the Raptors held tough and then pushed ahead of the rest of the way.
This was not a game the Mavericks would have penciled in as a win. However, there were some positive signs that Barnes was able to be a factor. That they were themselves in a position to make the Raptors sweat in the fourth quarter was a sign that this team has some moxie.
But until they get their heavy lifers working together for an extended time, it's going to be hard to put together any consistency.
Smith update: Smith said after Wednesday's game that he could have played in the final minutes after tweaking his right ankle with about three minutes left.
About 90 minutes before Friday's game against Toronto coach Rick Carlisle said: "He's a little sore, but he went through shootaround and I expect him to play."
Shortly thereafter, Smith was shooting 3-pointers on the court and seemed to be moving well.
About 30 minutes after that, Smith was ruled out of the game against the Raptors.
Smith has had a 37.5 percent shooting, including 22.2 percent from 3-point range.
Smith will not have long to recover. The Mavericks return home Sunday to play Utah in the first of back-to-back games. They visit San Antonio on Monday.
More injury news: Devin Harris continues to recover from his left hamstring strain and Carlisle left the door Sunday against Utah.
"He's doing well," Carlisle said. "He's getting better every day I do not know when he'll play I think he's going to be very thoughtful, but I just do not know.
"Hey, when you're 35, you know your body and you're going to get it right now." That's what we went through with Harrison I'm hopeful it's sooner than later. "
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