In between the two games on the season-opening trip, Avery Johnson said he wasn't scared to get J.J. Barea into tense game situations.

Good thing, because Barea was in the starting lineup for the home opener Saturday night.

And while Devin Harris isn't in danger of losing his starting point-guard duties, Barea dazzled in a rare opportunity for quality playing time, leading the Mavericks to a huge early lead and a 123-102 runaway against Sacramento.

Barea played big, which could inspire a new nickname for the nearly 6-0 point guard: the jumbo shrimp. You can also call him a fan favorite.

"I'm a 5-11 white guy," Barea said. "I go in there and they cheer for me, which is great."

Barea was the catalyst in the first half, scoring 17 points as the Mavs jumped to a 73-56 lead that never was in danger after halftime. A second-year player from Puerto Rico, Barea finished with a career-best 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He made all four of his 3-point attempts.

Harris may return from a left thigh contusion Monday against Houston, but the play of Barea certainly gives the coaching staff a much better feel for what they have in the event of an emergency at the point.

"That's where we wanted to go," coach Avery Johnson said. "That's why we stress this player development program. He's improved. We just want to keep him moving forward.

"He had a nice game. We'll see where it goes from here. I was expecting him to play well. He was one of the few bright spots we had in Atlanta. We just felt we'd keep Jet [Jason Terry] coming off the bench. We're glad it worked out."

Barea played just 33 games as a rookie, including one start, and rarely was on the court in tight situations. He said it was gratifying to come through as an emergency starter for the injured Harris.

"It feels great," he said. "The fans were yelling, and every time I scored my teammates were jumping off the bench and going crazy. It was a great feeling."

It should be noted that the game was against a Sacramento team that was missing Ron Artest (suspension) and Mike Bibby (thumb surgery). The Kings will drag an 0-3 record into their home opener Tuesday.

And Sacramento's presence did nothing to ignite an opening-night crowd that wound up trying to keep itself interested in a blowout.

LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN

Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea drives to the basket against Sacramento's Brad Miller.

Barea saw to it that there was no suspense. He hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, the second coming on a nice pass out of the paint by Dirk Nowitzki to put the Mavericks up, 22-8.

Johnson has said he wants to make sure Barea gets a solid opportunity to run the Mavericks the same way Harris does.

"I wouldn't say [he's on] a short lease," Johnson said on the opening road trip. "We'd like to see him get a little scrappier defensively. When you're that small and that low to the ground, we'd like see him get in there and get some steals."

Barea clearly didn't have any trouble scoring. And the Mavericks got an extra boost from the return of Josh Howard, done with his two-game suspension.

Howard made up for lost time with 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

But the star of the night was Barea, who in the fourth quarter threw in another 3-pointer, made a fancy move to the bucket, then took a seat on the bench to a rousing and well-deserved ovation from the sellout crowd.