Dallas Mavericks Open Season Against San Antonio Spurs
The new-look Dallas Mavericks won’t have to wait long to get a rematch against the San Antonio Spurs.
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The Mavs and the in-state rival Spurs — fresh off a classic seven-game series where Dallas was a win away from pulling off a historic upset — will open the 2014-15 NBA season on Oct. 28 in San Antonio on TNT at 8 p.m. ET — where the Spurs will receive their championship rings.
San Antonio won’t look any different personnel wise, keeping every player who was on last year’s title team. Dallas, however, will look drastically different from the team that almost knocked the Spurs out of the first round. Tyson Chandler returns to the Mavs, and Chandler Parsons will make his debut in the blue and white.
But when the season starts, the Spurs will be banged up. Manu Ginobili is recovering from a stress fracture in his right fibula, and he had to sit out of the FIBA World Cup this summer because of it. Patty Mills, who was a key component to the Spurs’ championship dominance over the Miami Heat, won’t play due to a torn rotator cuff and will be out until early 2015.
Yes, we’re already over-analyzing NBA basketball on Opening Night. This is fun, isn’t it?
The Spurs swept the season series against the Mavs last season, and only one of those meetings was decided by over 10 points. The Mavs are projected to be a much better defensive team than what faced San Antonio a year ago, just because of Tyson Chandler alone.
After this game, get comfortable knowing there won’t be another Mavs/Spurs showdown for awhile. The two teams won’t face off until Dec. 20 in Dallas. After that, the Mavs and Spurs won’t meet until a home-and-home series set for March 24 (in Dallas) and March 27 (in San Antonio).
Opening the new season against the defending champions isn’t common for Dallas. The last time the Mavs opened against the team that won the championship the prior year was on Nov. 4, 1988 against the Los Angeles Lakers. The game was actually held in Dallas, and the Lakers won 116-113 at Reunion Arena.