"It was great to get back out there in competition," Dunleavy said. "It was better to play and lose than not play at all."

Dunleavy, who had knee surgery in March, said the biggest obstacle he faces in his return is getting back in game shape and finding his rhythm again after being away for so long.

"I've got to work on some things, get my rhythm back and just get back into the daily routine. We've got a relatively full lineup now, so we've got to make things happen," he said.

Dunleavy will continue to come off the bench for the time being and be limited to no more than 20 minutes for the Pacers, who have a 6-8 record.

"I like our guys, but I think we've gone through some periods where we've gotten down on ourselves too much and we've probably thought we were better than we were too much," Dunleavy said. "That's why you can see we've gotten on some streaks both ways. If we can somehow develop the discipline to come out and execute on both ends of the court each night, I think we can be a really good basketball team, but that remains to be seen if we can do that."

MAVERICKS 113, PACERS 92: The Pacers were outrebounded by 21, including by 10 on the offensive glass, and they trailed by as many as 26 points. They gave up at least 29 points in three of the four quarters. Dirk Nowitzki put on a shooting exhibition for Dallas, making 10-of-14 shots from the field and 11-of-13 from the line for a game-high 31 points. Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points.