It's finally "go time" for the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs, teams with differing expectations, when the Lone Star State rivals open their season on Thursday in Dallas. The Mavericks are in the hunt for a league title, while San Antonio is just trying to fight its way back to respectability after a long rebuilding stretch. Dallas went 50-32 in 2023-24 and beat the Spurs in all four of their meetings on the way to the Western Conference title. Led by guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks are again expected to compete for the top spot in the West after addressing their 3-point shooting deficiency by signing free agent Klay Thompson in the offseason. Dallas coach Jason Kidd has played things close to the vest as far as the rest of his starting lineup. The center spot will be manned by either Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively II, while P.J. Washington will likely start at power forward. Key reserves for the Mavericks include guards Quentin Grimes, Spencer Dinwiddie and Jaden Hardy, forwards Naji Marshall and Maxi Kleber and center Dwight Powell. Guard Dante Exum is expected to miss the first three months of the season after undergoing wrist surgery. Doncic did not play in the preseason while nursing a left calf contusion but has been a full participant in recent practices and has been cleared to play on Thursday. His absence has kept the Mavericks' "Big Three" of him, Irving and Thompson from playing together, but Doncic said Tuesday that the expected rapport would come with time. ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐: ๐ต๐๐๐ฝ๐://๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐น.๐บ๐ฒ/๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป?๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐.๐ =๐๐ฆ&๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ.๐ =๐ฒ๐_๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ก! ๐๐๐ง๐, ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช'๐ก๐ก ๐๐๐ฃ๐ **๐๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ** ๐พ๐๐ ๐ซ๐จ ๐พ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ **๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐จ** ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ **๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐ค๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ** ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ข๐ค๐จ๐ฉ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐. ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ค๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค ๐๐ฃ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐ก๐๐๐, ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ช๐ก๐ค๐ช๐จ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐. ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ช๐ฅ๐จ, ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช'๐ก๐ก ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ **๐๐ช๐ก๐ก ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ข** ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐. ๐ฟ๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐ข๐๐จ๐จ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐๐ฃ๐ **๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐ช๐๐จ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ**โ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐! MEMBERS: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKR6DFXd0fQGDWebGTnuHrg/join Business account: nba2ksimulationyt@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/Simulation_2k Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nba_2k_simulation/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nba2k_simulation?lang=es