No Lively, No Aldama: Cisse and Gafford Get Sengun in the Opener

0:04The host: Hoops Rumors reported this morning that Walter Clayton has agreed to a two-way deal with Dallas. It's a report, not a team announcement, but Marc Stein had him as likely yesterday. It changes the back of the roster after Dwight Powell was waived on October 19. It does not change tonight.

0:21The analyst: Two sources in two days pointing the same way. That's strong, but it isn't signed. And Clayton isn't on the 17-man roster we're working from. Tonight's problem is the middle.

0:36The host: Because the middle is empty. Dereck Lively II is out with the right foot. Santi Aldama is out with the knee. Powell is gone. That leaves Daniel Gafford and Moussa Cisse.

0:47The analyst: Against Alperen Sengun, who averaged 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists a game last season. The assists are what scare me. A center who passes like that punishes a thin frontcourt every time it has to help.

1:03The host: And the rest of Houston isn't easy either. 52-30 last season, net rating plus 5.4 under Ime Udoka. Kevin Durant at 26.0 points a game, Amen Thompson at 18.3.

1:18The analyst: Both teams are 0-0, so all we have is last season. They had a pace of 97.0 and we were at 102.6. Dusty May's first full season starts with a fight over whose speed the game is played at.

1:31The host: Their report: Steven Adams day-to-day with a right calf, Julian Phillips day-to-day with an illness. If Adams sits, they're thinner up front too.

1:40The analyst: If. A day-to-day tag two hours before tip tells you nothing yet.

1:45The host: Ours is longer. Caleb Martin out with the right thumb. Tarik Biberovic out with the right heel. Jett Howard back to day-to-day with a right calf, one day after he was cleared.

1:57The analyst: Here's the part that matters. Lively, Martin, Biberovic and Aldama all have the same estimated return: October 23, at Indiana. That's two days from now.

2:09The host: So tonight is the one game all four of them miss. That's $17.0M of Aldama sitting in street clothes.

2:17The analyst: Which is why my number of the day is Cisse's: 26.0 minutes a night over the last 5 games, up 12.0 from what he'd been playing.

2:26The host: Nearly double. That's a starter's workload.

2:29The analyst: For five games, with teammates out. It proves he's next in line when bodies go down. It doesn't prove he can hold 26 minutes against Sengun, or that he keeps them once Lively is back.

2:40The host: One from way back. The first game this franchise ever played, at Reunion Arena, they beat the Spurs 103-92. Then they finished 15-67. Opening nights lie.

2:53The analyst: The memory holds. We won in Houston 132-115 on October 11, with Kyrie Irving at 17 and Zaccharie Risacher at 16. Then we lost 97-101 to the Pelicans and 111-135 to the Hawks. Preseason finished 1-3. One good night in that building proved nothing.

3:17The host: But the Hawks game had Cooper Flagg with 26 and 12, and Kyrie with 18. The next day Dallas picked up Flagg's third-year option.

3:26The analyst: Then the cuts came: Seth Lundy and John Poulakidas on October 17, Powell on the 19th. Behind the regulars you've got Morez Johnson Jr., Sergio de Larrea and Tobi Lawal, all rookies.

3:39The host: Flagg is still the matchup I care about. 21.0 points a game last season at 19. If Houston gives him room, he takes it.

3:49The analyst: At 29.5% from three last season? Giving him room is exactly what they'll do. Max Christie shot 40.4% from three last season, so he's the one who makes them pay for it.

4:02The host: And Kyrie, 34 years old and $39.5M, the biggest contract on the books. On a night this thin he has to steady it.

4:11The analyst: Fresh legs, no excuses. We've had 4 days off, they've had 5. Neither team is on a back-to-back.

4:18The host: It tips two hours from now in Houston. Our schedule lists no channel for this one. The first NBA TV date is October 26, at Miami.

4:29The analyst: And on Clayton: until Dallas announces it, it's a report.

4:32The host: Watch who's standing next to Sengun in the fourth quarter, and whether it's Cisse.

4:37The analyst: Everything after the final is in the Mavericks section on Hoops Nightly.