The Dallas Mavericks released their 2018-19 regular season schedule Friday afternoon. Their 82-game journey begins on the road against the Phoenix Suns on October 17. That game will be broadcast on ESPN. In fact, the Mavs will play a few games in front of a national audience this season. Dallas will appear on ESPN twice, against the aforementioned Suns and also against the Atlanta Hawks on October 24. Seeing Luka Doncic face his fellow top-five draft pick peers in DeAndre Ayton and Trae Young, especially after the two were swapped on draft night, will be appealing to some. However, ESPN is likely prepared to take a ratings hit both nights. TNT will air three games as well. They’ll show DeAndre Jordan’s return to Los Angeles on December 20 when the Mavericks play the Clippers. One has to wonder if Clippers fans will boo him and vehemently as Mavs fans have in the past. The network will also road games in Phoenix on December 13 and in Denver on March 14. All the rest of the Mavericks games will be shown on FOX Sports Southwest with a handful likely appearing locally on TXA 21 toward the end of the regular season when scheduling conflicts with the scourge known as baseball begins to dominate FSSW’s airways. If you live out of market, it might be time to think about adding NBA League Pass with so few Mavericks games televised nationally. Other games of note Dallas’ home opener is October 20 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Golden State Warriors will be in Dallas twice next season. They’ll be in town November 17 and January 13. LeBron James will play just one game in the AAC this season on January 7. Lakers fans travel well so if you’re interested in attending, you should get tickets sooner rather than later. The Mavs’ final regular season game—potentially Dirk Nowitzki’s last game ever—is on the road against the San Antonio Spurs on April 10. If this really is Dirk’s last game, someone needs to be fired for putting it on the road in San Antonio. Seriously, WTF? ! Beyond that, the schedule is being called balanced by the team. Next season, the Mavericks will play in 14 back-to-backs. Their longest home stand is three games, which they will do four times. Both of their longest road trips are each four games. Check out the full schedule below:<doc-sep>The NBA officially released the entirety of its regular-season schedule on Friday afternoon, moving us all one step closer to what should be an exciting 2018-19 campaign for the league. We will get to witness the debuts of LeBron in Los Angeles, Kawhi in Toronto, DeAndre Jordan in Dallas, as well as the beginnings of one of the most heralded rookie classes in modern NBA history. The competitions between Luka Doncic and DeAndre Ayton (already underway in a fun manner), among others, should also provide one of the more interesting rookie of the year chases in recent memory as well. Furthermore, with the schedule now known, we can begin to look ahead to some interesting and key dates throughout the season, as the Mavs gear up to make another long-overdue attempt at a playoff run with their revamped roster. So, without further ado, lets take a look at some of the key dates in the 2018-19 season for the Mavericks. Here is the Mavs full schedule for 2018 pic.twitter.com/sWZBsMWUIA — Matt Galatzan (@MattGalatzan) August 10, 2018 Donut 1: Season opener at Phoenix, October 17th As our Dalton Trigg reported on Wednesday, Luka Doncic and the Mavs' season debut will come on the road against top overall pick DeAndre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns, in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPN. This game will mark a sort of turning of the page for both franchises, with both teams debuting their new prized rookie acquisitions, kids they hope to ride into the future for many years to come. The dynamic between these two players and their careers will be interesting to follow, as there were plenty of 'experts', including some of us at DallasBasketball.com, who believed the Suns should have taken Doncic No. 1 overall back in June. Donut 2: Home opener, October 20th vs. Minnesota Just a couple of nights later, the Mavs will turn around and showcase their shiny new roster at home for the first time, when Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jimmy Butler (probably), come to the American Airlines Center for the season opener. Not only will Luka Doncic and DeAndre Jordan be making their first appearances in front of the Dallas home crowd on this night, but it also might be the final season opener in the 21-year career of the Big German. Donut 3: October 24th, Luka Vs. Trae Young Just a few days later, the Mavs will make their second nationally televised appearance of the season when they travel to Atlanta to take on Trae Young and the new-look Hawks, in a game that will have another interesting rookie twist. This past June, the Mavericks swapped spots with the Hawks, landing Doncic in Dallas and sending Young to Atlanta, forever linking the career paths of the two players. It will be the first of many battles between the two young stars in the making, in what will hopefully become a fun rivalry as their careers progress. Donut 4: December 8th, the Rockets come to the AAC If you're reading this, it's too late. You already hate the Rockets, and that's fine. On December 8th, the Mavs' rival with coincidentally the most easy-to-hate roster in the entire NBA, will make their first appearance at the American Airlines Center, with CP3, the Beard and Melo in tow. Last season, the Mavs faced Houston on the back ends of a back-to-back in three out of their four matchups, which was, well, ... not ideal. Next season however, that is not the case, as that will only happen one time in their four meetings. Would that have changed the outcome of last years' games? No. But it will give Dallas more of a punchers chance in 2018-19, with the Mavs roster vastly improved, and the Rockets' roster taking a step back. Donut 5: December 20th, DeAndre is going back to Cali for the first time Twelve days after facing his hometown team for the first time, DeAndre Jordan will be making his first road trip to California to face his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clips are going to be a fun team to watch next season, which should make the game exciting enough, but what will be more interesting is the crowds' reception to their former center returning to the Staples Center. Will he be welcomed? Will he be booed? He seemed to have left on fairly solid terms, but either way, it will be a joy to watch him throw down a couple of oops on his former coach and teammates. Donut 6: December 30th and 31st, back to back against OKC The Thunder made a big statement this summer when they managed to keep star Paul George in Oklahoma City on a long-term contract. With Melo gone, things will likely smooth out for them offensively, and could once again make them one of the West's prime contenders heading into the playoffs. The Mavs will get a chance to face them back-to-back on the last two days of 2018, in a stretch that could be a measuring stick of sorts for how the Mavs' revamped roster is progressing. Donut 7: January 7th, LeBron's inaugural trip to Dallas as a Laker It was undoubtedly the biggest free agency move of the summer, and it shows, with the Lakers leading the NBA with a whopping 36 nationally-televised games as a result. That is more two more than the defending champ Golden State Warriors, and four more than Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, and Houston. Needless to say, they will likely dominate the 2018-19 NBA news cycle, so be prepared. LeBron will make his first trip to Dallas as a Laker in early January, and hopefully, it will be without LaVar in tow. Donut 8: January 16th, big brother pays little brother their first visit A little over a week later, the Mavs' big brother will come to town, and will likely be in classic Greg Popovich mid-season ass-kicking form, with their new star guard, DeMar DeRozan.<doc-sep>Glenn James/Getty Images The new-look Dallas Mavericks come into the 2018-19 NBA season with the goal of making it back to the playoffs for the first time in three years. Following a 24-58 record last season, the franchise's worst since 1997-98, the Mavs front office added DeAndre Jordan in free agency and European sensation Luka Doncic in the draft. They also have promising second-year point guard Dennis Smith Jr. and ageless wonder Dirk Nowitzki to form a solid nucleus. Now that the Mavericks know what their schedule for the season looks like, their attention will turn to focusing on the matchups that will ultimately determine how their revamped roster is going to stack up in a loaded Western Conference. 2018-19 Season Details Season Opener: Oct. 17 at Phoenix Suns, 10:30 p.m. ET Video Play Button Videos you might like Championship Odds: 140-1 (via Odds Shark) Full Schedule: NBA.com Top Matchups Houston Rockets: First Matchup at the Toyota Center on Nov. 28 There are many reasons to highlight the Mavs' first meeting with the Houston Rockets as their top game. The two Texas-based teams play in the Southwest Division. The Rockets were the best side in the regular season last year with a 65-17 record. They haven't lost to the Mavericks since April 6, 2016, a streak of eight straight victories. It would be unrealistic to expect the Mavs to close the 41-game gap that separated them from Houston last season. Even if the Rockets aren't as good in 2018-19, they are still among the best teams in the NBA. Dallas still boasts strong veteran players such as Nowitzki, Jordan and Harrison Barnes. The best thing for the franchise, though, will be seeing chemistry develop between Doncic and Smith to give them an excellent backcourt duo for years to come. The Mavericks aren't quite stuck in the middle ground of fighting for a low seed in the playoffs and completely rebuilding. They are closer to the former, which makes their games against the Rockets an essential litmus test. Atlanta Hawks: First Matchup at Philips Arena on Oct. 24 A game between two teams that each won fewer than 30 games last season doesn't immediately stand out as essential viewing. One major storyline that developed during the NBA draft has made the Mavs-Hawks matchup an exception to that rule. The Hawks selected Doncic with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft, but they were so enamored with Trae Young that they made a deal with the Mavs to secure the former Oklahoma superstar. Hawks assistant general manager Jeff Peterson told Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in May that Doncic was a great player for this era of basketball: "But, in general, the NBA is moving more toward ball movement, player movement and (Doncic) really thrives in that area. It's his vision, his willingness to make passes, his unselfishness. His size allows him to see over guys and find guys in different angles. He's a decent shooter. The thing with him is, he's not afraid to take big shots and he makes big shots. He has a ton of confidence to be able to do what he's doing at that age at that level in that league is pretty impressive." Young had his supporters leading up to the draft. He was being compared to Stephen Curry during the college season, with Uproxx's Sean Highkin offering this assessment in June: "But (Curry's) impact on younger players has been impossible to ignore, and Young is one of the first post-Curry prospects in that mold since the start of this Warriors run. Coming off a freshman campaign in which he looked like the best scoring guard in college basketball history at times, how Young adapts to bigger players and tougher defenses at the NBA level will be the first true test of whether the Curry model is replicable beyond that one-of-a-kind specimen." The comparisons between Doncic and Young exist because they are both point guards arriving in the NBA with as much hype as any prospects in this year's class. Young is at a disadvantage in the debate because American fans saw him play 32 games at Oklahoma. His brief college tenure ended on a down note after a 12-1 start. The Sooners lost 13 of their final 19 games, and Young shot under 40 percent 13 times during that stretch. Doncic, who was named Euroleague MVP at 19 years old, hasn't received much exposure to fans in the United States. He didn't take part in the summer league after playing a full season in Europe with Real Madrid. Both players will be linked throughout their professional careers by virtue of playing the same position and being traded for each other. Prediction The Western Conference is a difficult place for a team such as the Mavs to challenge for a playoff spot. After 10 teams finished over .500 last season, the talent got deeper with LeBron James joining the Los Angeles Lakers and No. 1 overall pick DeAndre Ayton going to a talented young Phoenix Suns roster. The Mavericks are going to have a tough time keeping up with so much competition. Their most significant flaw last season was an offense that ranked 24th in offensive efficiency and 28th in points per game. If Smith progresses as a shooter—his 39.5 field goal percentage in 2017-18 was the NBA's second-worst among all qualified players—and Doncic's playmaking skills translate quickly, it won't be hard for Dallas to have a vastly superior offense to what it had last season. There are certainly a lot of "what if" scenarios involved with projecting the Mavericks, but the overall talent is going to make them a much better team than the one that ended last season. Record Prediction: 35-47<doc-sep>ATLANTA -– The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club will play host to the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 24 on ESPN in their home opener as the team begins its season-long celebration of 50 years in Atlanta, the National Basketball Association announced today. Following its $192.5 million transformation, the second-largest in NBA history, Philips Arena re-opens for basketball as two of the top five picks in the 2018 NBA Draft, Trae Young and Luka Doncic, match up. With much more to be announced as the start of the season draws closer, plans for a year-long tribute to the team’s first five decades in Atlanta already include an extensive community outreach campaign and exclusive digital content. Prior to the home opener, the Hawks tip off the season at New York on Oct. 17. After visiting Memphis (Oct. 19) and Cleveland (Oct. 21), the team returns home to compete with Dallas and the Chicago Bulls (Oct. 27). All games will air on the Hawks’ flagship radio station, Entercom Atlanta’s Sportsradio 92-9 The Game, as well as partner stations on the Hawks Radio Network, with “Voice of the Hawks” Steve Holman on the call. The complete regional television schedule on FOX Sports Southeast and the FOX Sports app will be released at a later date. All of Atlanta’s Monday-through-Saturday home games will feature 7:30 p.m. tip times, with the exception of the home opener on Oct. 24 (7 p.m.), Monday, Jan. 21 vs. Orlando (3 p.m.), Saturday, Feb. 23 vs. Phoenix (7 p.m.), Saturday, Mar. 9 vs. Brooklyn (7 p.m.) and Wednesday, Apr. 10 vs. Indiana (8:00 p.m.). Sunday game times will vary. The aforementioned Jan. 21 home matchup versus Orlando marks the traditional annual Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday game in the city he called home. Atlanta Hawks Memberships are available now. Visit hawks.com, text or call 866-715-1500 for more information. Flex Plans, Group and Individual game tickets will go on sale at a later date. Atlanta faces each Eastern Conference team four times, except for Toronto and Detroit (two home/one road), as well as Brooklyn and Cleveland (one home/two road), and every Western Conference opponent twice. The Hawks play 20-of-41 home games on weekends (five Friday, nine Saturday, six Sunday). Among the home contests are matchups against defending NBA champion Golden State (Dec. 3), the Los Angeles Lakers (Feb. 12), Boston (Nov. 23 and Jan. 19), Oklahoma City (Jan. 15), Philadelphia (Mar. 23 and Apr. 3) and Houston (Mar. 19). Atlanta opens with three straight road contests before playing two straight and four-of-six at home. The Hawks have a stretch of seven-of-10 contests in Atlanta between Nov. 19-Dec. 8. The longest road trip of the year is a seven-game run from Jan. 23-Feb. 4, covering Chicago, Portland, the LA Clippers, Sacramento, Utah, Phoenix and Washington. Immediately prior to that trip, Atlanta plays seven consecutive at home between Feb. 7-23. The Hawks play 12 sets of back-to-backs, including three home/home, three road/home and six road/road. The busiest month of the home schedule is March (10 games), while the Hawks will play nine contests away from home in January. The first half of the schedule ends following a Feb. 14 home contest vs. New York, and the second half resumes following All-Star Weekend on Feb. 22 against Detroit.<doc-sep>
The Phoenix Suns open the 2018-19 NBA season at home with the Coca-Cola & Fry’s Food Stores Tip Off against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The contest is scheduled to feature the regular season debut of the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Suns’ Deandre Ayton, and third overall pick, the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, in a matchup that will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. Single-game tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at noon. Download the Official Suns Mobile App and create an account, follow the team on social media or sign up for the “In the Post” newsletter at Suns.com for a chance to purchase early. The Suns’ home schedule at Talking Stick Resort Arena is highlighted by visits from the back-to-back NBA Champion Golden State Warriors on New Year’s Eve and Feb. 8. Phoenix will host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 24 and March 2. Other marquee home games include visits from the Boston Celtics (Nov. 8), Houston Rockets (Feb. 4), Oklahoma City Thunder (Nov. 17 and Dec. 28), New York Knicks (March 6), Philadelphia 76ers (Jan. 2), San Antonio Spurs (Oct. 31 and Nov. 14) and Toronto Raptors (Nov. 2). Of the Suns’ 41 home games, 15 will be played on Friday or Saturday with eight Friday night home games and seven Saturday night home contests. Phoenix’s home schedule includes a season-long seven-game home stand from Dec. 28 to Jan. 8, where they will host the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, LA Clippers, Charlotte Hornets and Sacramento Kings. The Suns open the season with seven of their first 11 games in the Valley and conclude the season with five of their final seven games at home with their home finale coming against the New Orleans Pelicans on April 5. Phoenix will play 12 back-to-back sets this season, two of which will be two home games on consecutive days (Dec. 28-29, March 1-2). The Suns’ 12 games having played the previous day marks the fewest games on zero days rest in team history (14 in 2015-16 and 2016-17). FOX Sports Arizona remains the exclusive local television home of the Suns, continuing a long-standing partnership that began with the 2003-04 season. The “Voice of the Suns” Al McCoy will call his 47th season of Suns’ action on the team’s flagship radio home, 98.7 FM Arizona's Sports Station, and KSUN 1400AM will once again carry the Spanish-language radio broadcast. Phoenix is scheduled to appear on ESPN twice and once on TNT. A full television and radio broadcast schedule will be announced in the coming weeks. As an exclusive benefit of being part of the Suns Family, SixthMan Members will have the first opportunity to purchase additional single-game tickets. Fans can download the Official Suns Mobile App and create an account to purchase tickets on Tuesday, Aug. 14 starting at noon. Follow the Suns on Twitter (@Suns), Instagram (@Suns), Facebook (Facebook.com/Suns) and SnapChat (PhoenixSuns) or sign up for the “In the Post” newsletter at Suns.com for a chance to purchase before tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at noon. Tickets can be purchased by visiting Suns.com or calling 602-379-SUNS. Click here to view full schedule!