Opening night is barely in the rearview mirror and both of these Texas squads are already searching for a working defensive scheme. The 0-1 San Antonio Spurs hit the road to visit the 0-1 Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center for an 8:00 PM EDT regular season tilt broadcast on MavsTV and DAZN SAS. Dallas can flat-out score, pouring in 110.0 points per game on an enviable 52 percent shooting from the floor behind Cooper Flagg’s explosive 32.0-point debut. The problem is the Mavs are treating perimeter defense like an optional exercise, surrendering a staggering 128.0 points per game despite swiping 12.0 steals a night.
San Antonio has the opposite headache, dragging a broken 39 percent field goal clip and a modest 104.0 points per game into Dallas. Victor Wembanyama is doing heavy lifting inside with 13.0 rebounds per game while anchoring a Spurs defense averaging 11.0 blocks, and rookie Stephon Castle set the pacing with 24.0 points in his first outing. But you cannot win on rim protection alone, especially with San Antonio surrendering 116.0 points per game and monitoring game-time decision statuses for both De'Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson. Lock in your predictions right now and head over to StreakChat to see who the community is backing tonight.