It's time for basketball: Spurs at Mavericks

Welcome to the game thread. Veterans of the game thread know how we operate here, but for anyone new, we have a few rules. Our Community Guidelines Apply and basically say: Be cool, no personal attacks, don't troll, and don't curse too much.

It seems like a long time since there was a real Spurs game, especially since San Antonio was a playoff team until recent years and played well into the summer most years. This year, they ended with a 28-point victory over the tanking Pistons on April 14th. Of course, Victor Wembanyama played many games with the French national team this summer, culminating in an inspiring performance in the gold medal game as Les Bleus lost a close game to the star-studded USA team to claim an Olympic silver medal.

The Spurs' preseason was something of a mishmash, as Pop played a number of strange lineups and seemed to use the games mostly to condition his players as they somehow stumbled to a 2-3 record. With the start of the season proper, that has now fallen away and the new-look Spurs are springing into action, with Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes added to the lineup and Devin Vassell out with an injury early in the season.

Tonight they face Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, who added sharpshooter Klay Thompson to the high-powered offense that made it to the Finals last year. Klay is also a good defender, something the Mavs lacked in last year's Finals. Klay has always played with a ball-dominant defender who is an excellent passer, and that will be no different with his new team, so I would expect him to take a lot of long shots tonight. Let's see if he can meet her.

The NBA season is long, but tonight we can be fresh and optimistic. Hurry, April is still a long way away.

Match prediction:

Victor Wembanyama will block at least two three-point attempts from Klay.

A final word:

Go Spurs GOOOOOO!!

San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks
October 24, 2024 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Streaming: TNT overtime
TV: TNT

Memory: It is It is against the site's policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments, but it's not against site policy to exchange email addresses, for example.