" The Mavericks seemed to have a lot in common with fall foliage Wednesday night.

Like the burnt orange and crimson leaves peppering the western Michigan countryside, they were destined to bite the dust.

That's what happens when you sit your three top players, much to the disappointment of a near-sellout crowd at Van Andel Arena. Winning pretty much blows away in the wind, right?

Not exactly, in this case. The Mavericks played with far more zip than they had during most of the preseason and rumbled past the Detroit Pistons, 101-96, to bump their exhibition record to 2-3.

Shawn Marion made sure the shorthanded Mavericks got off to a good start, then gave way to sharp-shooting Steve Novak, who escorted them to a nice win against many of the Pistons' regulars.

With Dirk Nowitzki , Jason Kidd and Caron Butler taking the night off, Marion threw in 10 first-quarter points to show he's ready to claim a major role in the regular season – regardless of what that role might be.

"We were just having fun and playing off each other," Marion said. "Sometimes it comes to you like that."

The Mavericks never allowed the Pistons to make any significant runs, mainly because Novak and rookie Dominique Jones chewed up the Detroit defense. Jones had 15 points and Novak did what he does best: shoot. He nailed six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points in 28 minutes.

"He can flat-out shoot the ball," coach Rick Carlisle said.

Novak is in a battle to make the team with Brian Cardinal, Dee Brown and Adam Haluska.

"When you're out there for four minutes, you sometimes feel like you have to do everything in those four minutes," Novak said. "So playing longer minutes helped." "