Dallas Mavericks: 3 Critical Stretches In 2016-17

The Dallas Mavericks’ 2016-17 schedule was released, so let’s preview a few tough stretches for the upcoming season.

After another up-and-down free agency period, the Dallas Mavericks will be bringing new players like Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Seth Curry and Quincy Acy to the court in the upcoming season.

The team certainly did not have the offseason they had planned on having but, yet again, rebounded well and put together a team capable of making the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference.

In order to do that, however, they’ll have to complete a successful regular season. With the 2016-17 schedule released, let’s dive in and take a look at a few difficult stretches the Mavs will have to face next season.

Nov. 21-25

The Mavs will face their first big test on the week of Thanksgiving. With three games in five days, the team will go head-to-head with three championship contenders in the San Antonio Spurs (Nov. 21), Los Angeles Clippers (Nov. 23) and Cleveland Cavaliers (Nov. 25).

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During the summer, each of these teams were able to improve. Tim Duncan retired, but the Spurs recovered by signing both Pau Gasol and David Lee to complete their big man rotation.

The Clippers signed former Mav Raymond Felton and completed their big man rotation by adding Brandon Bass and Marreese Speights. The Cavs kept their championship core together while adding one of LeBron James‘ former teammates in Chris Andersen and acquired sharpshooter Mike Dunleavy in a trade.

Overall, the Mavs won’t have any back-to-backs during this short stretch, but they could very well go 0-3 if they aren’t able to steal a game against one of these teams that seem destined to play late into May.

Dec. 26-30

The Mavs will have another difficult stretch immediately after Christmas.

With four games in five nights, they’ll face off against two division rivals (New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets) along with a trip west to face the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

The yearly “four games in five nights” stretch is one of the hardest in the NBA, and for the Mavs, it’s going to feature a lot of traveling.

They’ll start off on Dec. 26 by playing the Pelicans in New Orleans before heading to Dallas to face the Rockets on the second night of a back-to-back. After an off day, they’ll make a trip out to L.A. for a date with the Lakers and then meet the Warriors the night after.

Dirk Nowitzki will likely get two days off during this run, with his most likely rest days coming against the Rockets and Warriors.

Mar. 29-Apr. 5

The third and final stretch for the Mavs comes late in the season with the playoff race in full force. Beginning in late March, the Mavs will embark on a five-game road trip over the span of eight days.

They’ll start things off with two divisional opponents in the Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies, who signed Chandler Parsons. As the season transitions to April, they’ll play three games in four nights with matches against the Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings and the Clippers.

This will be an incredibly important road trip for the Mavs, because they’ll likely still be positioning themselves for the playoffs and could even be fighting for a spot if they find themselves near the bottom of the race.

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While storylines throughout the season will likely create more tough stretches, the three mentioned above seem the most challenging and most important for the Mavs in 2016-17.

You can find the full schedule on Mavs.com.