Mavericks announce 2018-19 regular season schedule

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: