The regular season starts October 21 at the Rockets, and the week does not let up: at Indiana on the 23rd, home to San Antonio on the 24th, at Miami on the 26th on NBA TV, then Oklahoma City at home on the 28th on ESPN. Houston is the game that tells you the most, because it is the healthiest defense Dallas will see this week and the one Dusty May has already faced twice this month.
Houston is the real test
Both teams come in fresh. Dallas has had four days off since the 111-135 loss to Atlanta on October 16, Houston five, and neither side has a back-to-back hanging over the opener. Ime Udoka's group went 52-30 last season with a 117.5 offense and a 112.1 defense, and that defense is the problem. Dallas scored at a 110.3 clip last season, 27th in the league, and Cooper Flagg shot 29.5 percent from deep on his way to 21.0 points a night. Houston plays at a 97.0 pace against Dallas's 102.6, so the Rockets will try to drag this into a half-court game where Kevin Durant's 26.0 points and Alperen Sengun's 20.4 and 6.2 assists decide it. The two exhibition meetings split: Houston won 117-135 on October 9, Dallas won 132-115 two nights later. Steven Adams is day-to-day with a right calf issue for Houston, which matters for a Dallas team with its own problems at center.
The back-to-back comes fast
The schedule turns ugly after Wednesday. Dallas flies to Indiana for Friday the 23rd, then hosts the Spurs on Saturday the 24th, a road-to-home back-to-back that lands on the second and third games of the season. Sunday off, then Miami on Monday the 26th on NBA TV, then the Thunder at home on the 28th on ESPN. Five games in eight nights, three of them on the road, and the two national broadcasts fall at the end of the stretch when the rotation is most worn. San Antonio is the division game and the old rivalry, but the Thunder on the 28th is the one that exposes whether this group can hold up by the fifth night.
Who is actually out
Four names carry day-to-day tags with an estimated return of October 21: Dereck Lively with a right foot issue, Santi Aldama with a knee, Tarik Biberovic with a right heel, and Jett Howard with an illness. Lively's listing is the first update of any kind since the September 23 report that he was not cleared for camp. Dwight Powell left the roster on October 20, which leaves Daniel Gafford and Moussa Cisse as the healthy centers against Sengun. Hoops Rumors, citing Marc Stein, reported that Dallas is considered likely to sign Walter Clayton. Payroll is $197.9 million against a $200.4 million tax line, so the room to add is real but narrow.
When is the Mavericks' first regular season game and who do they play?
Dallas opens Wednesday, October 21, at the Houston Rockets. It is the first of five games in eight nights.
Is Dereck Lively playing in the opener?
He is listed day-to-day with a right foot issue and an estimated return of October 21, so his status for Houston is unresolved. It is the first update on him since the September 23 report that he was not cleared for camp.
