There are always a handful of losses that make you question your sanity.
Every year we excitedly dissect the Dallas Mavericks season schedule charting out exciting matchups, potential pitfalls, surprising road wins, all in their quest to return to the playoffs and hopefully back to the NBA Finals. To get there Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are joined by much of their finals teammates for another go — and head coach Jason Kidd has several new pieces to play with, including future hall of famer Klay Thompson.
Inevitably each season though, there are games we’ve either circled or overlooked. Whether it be because we desperately need them to embarrass the other team for, you know, personal reasons, or a game we’ve written off as a sure win. And when the Mavericks trip up it sends us into a blind rage, questioning whether you can watch the next one. These are five of those games this season.
Oct. 26 — @ Phoenix Suns
Like a fly that can’t get out of your face the Phoenix Suns are just there, pestering. The same hostility from several seasons ago may not exist between these teams, but there’s enough from the fan bases to last us a while.
Continuity usually outweighs all else early in a season. But who’s to say which team holds that edge here? The Mavericks will be working in Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, and Quentin Grimes. And the trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal played in just 45 games together last season (ahem…including their four-game playoff sweep). The Mavericks kicked off their season two years ago in Phoenix and lost a tight one. I’d expect this to be more of the same, an early season heartbreaker to those scoundrels out west.
Nov. 27 — vs New York Knicks
Just 24 hours before you sit at your dining table and declare everything you’re grateful for the Dallas Mavericks will try to spoil your meal. In the two seasons since his departure Jalen Brunson has faced the Mavericks twice. And in only one of those has he faced dear friend Luka Doncic. The Mavericks won both of those games.
But the Knicks have been busy the last two seasons, adding piece after piece of disruptive wings, building a machine around the now MVP-level play from the former Maverick. And this time around Brunson takes the belt. And the rage won’t be from the Mavericks dropping a game to an unworthy opponent, it won’t be from dropping a home game in the midst of several rode bouts…it’s just seeing our beautiful boy succeeding elsewhere. Eventually we’ll have to move on but for a good while this will be my Ross & Rachel “we were on a break” meltdown.
Jan. 20 — @ Charlotte Hornets
My birthday, MLK Day, a president getting inaugurated, and the Mavericks get the early game in Charlotte against a Hornets team that never seems to be good but somehow is always annoying to Dallas. Last year was the first time the Mavericks beat the Hornets in both games of a season since Luka was a rookie. That tells me the law of averages will win the day, and that’s an L for the Mavericks. It wouldn’t be the first time that the team, and Luka, came out sluggish for an odd tip-off time after two days off.
This Monday midday game will have a slight taste of revenge for the wrong side. Josh Green, traded this offseason in multi-team move to bring Klay Thompson to Dallas, will bring all the endless energy to pester Mavericks shooters and attempt to go for a career high (29 points against the Utah Jazz in 2023). He may not get there, but he will triple pump no look pass the Hornets to victory.
Jan. 25 — vs. Boston Celtics
This will be the first meeting between the two NBA Finalists from 2023-24. The Mavericks were kindly ushered off the floor in last season’s series, grabbing only a single win against an opponent that was a full blown juggernaut by the time they met. The Celtics felt designed specifically to dismantle what made the Mavericks so successful in the back half of the year. And while the Mavericks have made a few roster adjustments to address those concerns, the Celtics are still the Celtics.
By end of January the hope will be that Kidd will have sorted out his rotations, how to manage both minutes and matchups for a roster that has plenty to be excited about. But the combination of playing in the darkest hours of the NBA season and the inevitability of this Boston team, the Mavericks carrying any venom from last summer still won’t be enough. But perhaps they’ll have their chances further down the line.
Mar. 29 — @ Chicago Bulls
The NBA schedulers seem to try their best to map out games, and road trips specifically, to follow logical paths through regions, especially when facing teams from the other conference. But inevitably there are sections that make no sense and prove tough on a team. Late March is a moment like that for the Mavericks, and they wrap up a road heavy segment in Chicago against the Bulls, who they routinely write off and often rest players. Here is that segment, between March 19-29:
- @ Indiana
- vs Detroit
- @ Brooklyn
- @ New York (second night of a back-to-back)
- @ Orlando
- @ Chicago
Six games in 11 days, with a short return home. Granted two of those games are played just across the bridge from each other. But that final game in Chicago screams rest night, or perhaps worse, going through the motions. The West is stacked this season, and the Mavericks figure to be jockeying for position in the top half of playoff standings. So stealing any easy game should be priority. But here the Mavericks will do what they have so often done and let this one get ugly and get away from them. And I will be left pondering whether it’s worth throwing my remote through the tv or through a window.