Predicting the Final Score of Mavericks vs. Spurs In Season Opener
By Vinny Lanni
@vinnylanni
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It’s going to be hard for the San Antonio Spurs to do better than they did last season. After claiming the crown as the 2013-14 NBA champions, the Spurs are looking for another title run with their aging stars Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. Well it’s a long season ahead for the Spurs, but their season kick off with the a newly-improved and dangerous Dallas Mavericks team that stands in their way.
Many are predicting that the Spurs and Mavericks could possibly meet up in the Western Conference Finals this season, so I expect a hard-fought game between these two teams that always play each other tough until the final quarter. This season, the Mavs have some new faces and pieces that will hopefully take them past their first-round Game 7 loss a year ago to this same Spurs team. In 2013-14, the Mavericks averaged averaged 104.8 PPG, which was good for No. 8 in the league.
Now, with the additions of Chandler Parsons on offense and Tyson Chandler on defense, the Mavericks adds even more offensive firepower to their game while upgrading their protection around the rim.
One obvious matchup to watch out for is Duncan against Nowitzki. These two savvy veterans are pretty familiar with one another and even though both of them are getting up there in age, I don’t see them slowing down anytime soon. Look for the Spurs to continue their slow, methodical pace against the Mavericks so they can keep them contained in the halfcourt and not let the Mavs’ offense run up and down and exploit fast-break opportunities.
I expect the Spurs to command the pace of this game and limit the Mavericks’ offense that is looking to use speed and athleticism against a Spurs team that doesn’t like to speed up the tempo of the game. If the Spurs can keep the Mavericks in the half-court, lean on their role players like Kawhi Leonard to contain the Mavs’ offense, then I like their chances of starting the season 1-0.
Prediction: Spurs 91, Mavericks 88
Vinny Lanni is a New York Jets writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google.
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