On draft night, the Mavericks sent Tyler Zeller and Kelenna Azubuike to Cleveland for their 24th, 33rd and 34th picks, Jared Cunningham, Bernard James and Jae Crowder.
[20][21] The Mavs signed their draft picks Jae Crowder on July 20,[22] and Jared Cunningham a day later.
On October 6 they faced German club Alba Berlin and three days later they played against FC Barcelona.
They took the lead in the second quarter and never looked back, at the end it was a 99–91 victory and the season started off the right foot.
[33] In their home opener against the Charlotte Bobcats, the Mavericks blew them out by 27 with O. J. Mayo scoring 30 and the team going 16 of 25 from behind the arc.
[34] Mayo added another 30+ game and Darren Collison got his second straight double-double in a blowout win against Portland.
[35] Without Elton Brand, who was with his wife for the birth of his child,[36] the Mavs won against the Toronto Raptors 109–104 with Chris Kaman starting for the first time and scoring 22, the same point amount that Mayo had.
[40] Against the winless Washington Wizards the Mavs took care of business and won by six, while putting up 40 points in the second quarter.
[41] Their next back-to-back started at the Indiana Pacers, who played without Danny Granger, but got the win in blowout fashion by 20.
[50] On the next night, they won at the Phoenix Suns by three, after O. J. Mayo put them ahead late in the game.
[65] In the last game in 2012, Vince Carter made his starting debut for the season, but could not prevent the Mavs from losing to the Spurs by 25.
[73] Against Minnesota, who were without Kevin Love and coach Rick Adelman, the Mavs were able ton their third straight game, this time by 15.
[75] In yet another Overtime game against Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 52 points (21 from the line) to help the Thunder win it.
Mayo made a three to tie the game in regulation but Carter missed a chance to send it to double-overtime.
The Mavs were able to win comfortably by 15,[80] in a game where Nowitzki moved past Allen Iverson in the all-time scoring list, now placed at 18th.
[81] In a rematch of Game 4 of the 2011 playoffs between Dallas and Portland, the Trail Blazers erased a 21-point deficit and won at the buzzer after a LaMarcus Aldridge shot.
[92] At New Orleans, the Mavericks needed two late threes by Mike James and Carter to escape with a four-point victory.
[98] Three days later, in the second straight game against Houston, this time at home, the Mavericks squeezed out a win.
[102] At San Antonio, the Mavericks had a chance to win the game but Carter missed a three at the buzzer.
[109] In another pivotal matchup, against Utah this time, the Mavs were able to win by five in the end, with the fourth quarter being safely in their hands.
They were down double-digits multiple times but Nowitzki managed to carry them when he hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2.9 seconds to go.
[114] At Denver, where the Nuggets held a 33–3 record, the Mavericks felt short by one when Andre Iguodala made a game winning layup with 2.8 seconds to go.
[119] After winning New Orleans, the Mavs reached the .500 mark for the first time since December 12 (121 days)[120] and were able to shave their beards[121] with Nowitzki scoring the 25,000th point during his career.
[124] Roster Last transaction: 2013–04–04 During the first preseason game at Berlin, Rodrigue Beaubois injured his left foot.
[128] On October 19, 2012, it was announced that Nowitzki underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and missed games until late December.
[133] Beaubois missed the games against Charlotte, Portland and Toronto because he twisted his left ankle during practice.
[137] Troy Murphy started the game against New York but was unable to play in the second half due to an illness.
[149] Brand missed three games late in the season and Nowitzki sat out the fourth quarter at Portland.