Who will be the Dallas Mavericks’ leading scorer this season? That’s the hardest question posed on a recent Mavs.com podcast that I was a guest on; you can listen here if you’re so inclined. Ultimately, without much confidence, I said Dennis Smith Jr. On Friday, you saw exactly why he could.



Dallas lost 120-114 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, playing their first of two preseason games in China. (They’ll play the Sixers again in Shenzhen on Monday at 7 a.m. CT.) But Dallas dominated the first quarter, winning it 35-26, and they only trailed by two points at halftime despite missing key players. DeAndre Jordan sat out with personal reasons, while Harrison Barnes and Dirk Nowitzki both have injuries that could linger into the regular season.



In their absences, Smith led the team in scoring. He had 15 points in the first quarter alone, finished with 20, and did it on 8-of-16 shooting. The rest of his line: five rebounds, five assists, one...