One of the few beautiful parts of this compacted season with games coming fast and furious is there will never be much time to sit and think about tough losses. That was the case for the Mavericks tonight with the Raptors in town for a quick turnaround after a gut-punch of a loss in Oklahoma City Thursday night. Taking too much time to sit and pout about a difficult defeat has never been this team’s style, but it’s just tough to definitively know how this team of so many new faces will react to adversity.

In what would historically be a “get well” game for Dallas against Toronto, the Raptors represent exactly the kind of challenge feared by an older Mavericks team with such a tight schedule. After a mentally and physically exhausting game in OKC, the young legs of Toronto could threaten to run Dallas right out of the gym if they weren’t properly recovered.

Additionally, there was no doubt that ex-Mavericks assistant coach and current Raptors boss Dwane Casey was going to be properly prepared for his former team. Casey was the defensive coordinator for the Mavericks and their vaunted zone defense that was such a useful tool during their championship run and was hired this offseason to bring that same intensity and commitment to the defensive side of the ball in Toronto.

Despite some decent resistance from Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon, and Co, Dallas did the job through three quarters with a 77-70 lead. Bargnani, specifically, kept the game within striking distance as he has 25 points on only 12 shots through the start of the fourth. He finished with a strong performance of 30 points and 7 boards. The confidence he showed in his jump shot and pump fake-escape dribble move was quite a positive sight for Toronto so far in this young season.

Leandro Barbosa even showed some form from of his Phoenix Suns days with 20 points and some electrifying plays to remind the world how much of an absolute blur he can be when he gets in the open court.

Still, it was Dallas who was the hungrier of the teams tonight and made sure to put the game away early in the fourth quarter as they jumped out to a 10-point lead at the 8:33 mark. The usual characters of Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry used their two-man game to lead the way with 18 and 17 points respectively, but Dallas also received a boost from an unexpected source.

Center Ian Mahinmi helped spark the Mavs to their first win of the year with a career high 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 17 minutes. In addition to helping find ways to replace the departed Tyson Chandler’s production, Mahinmi’s performance was a welcome sight on a night when the energy from Dallas regulars was expected to be low.

It would obviously be a massive stretch to expect this kind of production from Mahinmi every night individually, but if the Mavericks can come to expect around 25 points and 15 rebounds collectively from their center spot each night, they will be well on their way to shoring up the position moving forward.

Next up for the Mavs is a visit to Minnesota to meet Ricky Rubio, Kevin love and yes, old friend JJ Barea. Dallas can start to build some consistency by starting the New Year off with a two-game winning streak. Right now for the Mavericks, it’s about stacking wins and working to perfect Carlisle’s system every night until its second nature with this new team.