Dallas opens 2026-27 at Houston, the same franchise that eliminated the Mavericks in five games during the 2015 playoffs. The date closes a loop that runs from the 1980-81 expansion debut through Dirk Nowitzki's 21 seasons to a draft-lottery pick that landed Cooper Flagg.
A Debut Built to Lose
Don Carter and Norm Sonju paid half of a $12.5 million expansion fee to put Dallas in the league for 1980-81, naming the team after a 1950s TV western with star James Garner in the ownership group. Dick Motta coached the opener, a 103-92 win over San Antonio at Reunion Arena, and Brad Davis, signed that December out of an Anchorage league, spent twelve years in Dallas and had his number retired. The season still finished 15-67. That kind of gap between a good night and a bad record is the closest historical parallel to a team that hasn't played a game yet this fall.
Houston Still Owes Dallas One
Dallas opens the 2026-27 regular season on October 21 at Houston, with preseason games against the Rockets on October 9 and 11 first. The last time these two met with real stakes, Houston eliminated Dallas in five games in the 2015 playoffs, a result the franchise record still lists as a sore spot alongside a 2014 first-round exit to San Antonio. Unlike the Clippers series Dallas flipped in 2024, winning 4-2 after two earlier playoff losses, the Rockets account has not been settled. An October date in Houston, preseason or not, sits on top of that history.
One Torch, Several Hands
Dirk Nowitzki's 21 seasons in Dallas, the longest one-team career the league has recorded, ended in 2019 after delivering the 2011 championship. Luka Doncic carried the franchise to a third Finals in 2024 before Dallas traded him to the Lakers for Anthony Davis in February 2025. Cooper Flagg, taken No. 1 after Dallas won a lottery with under a 2 percent chance at the top slot, is now the answer to who holds the torch next, with Willie Green, hired off the Pelicans bench on September 16, joining Dusty May's staff to help develop him.
Has Dallas played Houston in a meaningful playoff series before?
Yes. The Rockets eliminated the Mavericks in five games in the 2015 playoffs, a result that still stands as unfinished business for the franchise.
What were the odds Dallas landed Cooper Flagg in the draft?
Dallas won the 2025 draft lottery with less than a 2 percent chance at the No. 1 pick, and used it on Flagg.
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