The Dallas Mavericks are off to a scorching-hot 3–1 start, in which their only loss came on ring night in San Antonio against the defending champion Spurs. They own the NBA’s best offense so far this season — averaging 118.1 points per 100 possessions — and while that massive offensive rating is inflated by the small sample size, it nevertheless accurately reflects the sheer amount of firepower on hand.

In years past, the combination of Dirk Nowitzki and head coach Rick Carlisle alone has generally been enough to ensure that Dallas had at least an above-average offense.

Since Carlisle’s first season with the Mavs in 2008, the only year that the team has ranked outside the top-11 in offensive efficiency was the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season.

After the team fell to the league’s 20th-ranked offense in 2012, Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson set about rejiggering the pieces around Nowitzki, with the primary goal to find a suitable partner with whom Dirk could make pick-and-roll magic.

It wasn’t until the summer of 2013, when they acquired guard Monta Ellis, that they found the perfect combo. While some were skeptical Ellis could tailor his game to fit a Nowitzki-centered offense, Dallas saw the potential that their skill sets could fit together brilliantly. That’s pretty much exactly what happened — Ellis giving the Mavs exactly what they were looking for.

According to a study of SportVU data done by NBA.com’s John Schuhmann in February of last season, Dallas set more screens per 100 possessions and ran more pick-and-rolls than any other team in the league. Given the nature of Carlisle’s “flow” or “push” offense, that’s hardly a surprise. It was also no surprise that, at the time of the study, Ellis and Nowitzki each ranked in the top-10 in points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball-handler and screener, respectively.

Having set the foundation of their elite offense , the Mavs made bold moves to fill in the blanks this summer. Nelson sent Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington and two second-round picks to the New York Knicks for Tyson Chandler, who was tabbed to fill the gaping hole that had existed in Dallas’ defense since Chandler departed after the Mavs won the title in 2011.

A side benefit of the deal was that Chandler also happens to be a heck of a pick-and-roll threat in his own right, and his game complements Dirk’s on both ends of the court. Nowitzki draws defenders out of the lane for Tyson’s forays to the rim, while Chandler’s attacks to the basket suck defenders back into the paint to give Dirk room to operate outside.

The boldest move Dallas made this offseason, however, came in free agency, signing small forward Chandler Parsons while the Rockets were off chasing after Chris Bosh. After a rough start on opening night, Parsons has rebounded to make 25-of-44 shots and 7-of-14 threes in the last three games.

With Parsons was in the fold, the Mavericks hit the bargain bin, picking up Jameer Nelson and J.J. Barea off waivers, signing Al-Farouq Aminu and Richard Jefferson for the league minimum, and convincing Greg Smith to follow Parsons from Houston to Dallas. These under-the-radar moves added even more depth to the impressive stable of talent already on the roster.

The Mavs now essentially roll three deep at every position, and they have a ton of guys who are versatile enough to fill a number of different roles on the court. The depth and diversity of talent on hand has let Carlisle aggressively manage minutes, Spurs-style. Ten different players are averaging double-digit minutes per game, while only Ellis and Parsons are over 30 a night.

This version of the Mavs comes at you in waves, with endless lineup combinations. Carlisle has used 40 different five-man units through four games, only two of which have appeared in all four contests. The plethora of combo forwards (Parsons, Jefferson, Aminu, Jae Crowder) allows Carlisle to go big or small as he wishes; the numerous guard options (Ellis, Nelson, Harris, the suspended Raymond Felton) allow him to play two point guards at once or none at all, with Ellis the primary ball-handler.

Carlisle, being the tactician he is, has also come up with some fun wrinkles to create open shots. Every play has secondary and tertiary options, and all of the options have counters if the defense overplays. Check out this set from late in the season-opening loss to the Spurs.

There’s a whole lot going on, here.

Ellis dribbles right while Parsons rubs off a screen from Nowitzki toward the top of the key, where he can take a catch-and-shoot three or continue the offense.

Ellis then takes two staggered screens from Dirk and Chandler on his way across the court, where Parsons can hit him with a pass or check off him as a decoy to the next action, Harris running through an elevator-door screen between Nowitzki and Chandler.

Parsons hits Harris on the wing, who immediately transitions into a side pick-and-roll with Nowitzki, which Manu Ginobili has to help on because Tony Parker hasn’t recovered after chasing Harris through the elevator, which opens up Parsons for a three at the top of the key. Bang.

There’s a whole lot of this kind of stuff built into nearly everything Dallas runs, where every action and counter flows right into the next, where every defensive rotation opens a sliver of space that the next pass is designed to exploit.

All of this organized chaos frees up guys to do what they do best. Ellis and Nowitzki run a ton of pick-and-rolls and pick-and-pops; Parsons attacks closeouts with catch-and-shoot jumpers or pump-fakes that lead to shots at the rim; Chandler knifes through the lane as a screener and lurks along the baseline on the periphery of the primary action; Jameer Nelson works as a secondary catch-and-shoot threat who can easily transition into a side pick-and-roll; and so on, and so forth. Everyone is put in a position to succeed.

Carlisle has long been one of the league’s best and most adventurous coaches; designing systems to fit his personnel where others rigidly adhere to pre-set systems. He’s never had more toys to play with than he does right now, and so far, he’s off to a terrific start. With all the talent on hand, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if Dallas sustains its top-rated offense in the league and remains a real contender come April.