Scrimmage schedule released for NBA season restart in Orlando

Per the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks will participate in three inter-squad scrimmages in the final week heading up to the regular season.

NBA

The Dallas Mavericks face off against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, July 23rd at 6:00 pm, then against the Indiana Pacers at 3:00 pm on Sunday July 26th, then their last scrimmage opponent will be the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday July 28th at 7:30 pm. Note that all times I’ve described are central times where the sheet above has East coast time.

I’ll be honest in that I didn’t know scrimmages were in the cards at all. None of the three teams are on the eight game regular season finish and each is a playoff team in their respective conferences. It’s arguably a good thing that the Mavericks get a taste for real basketball against quality teams, as they’ll be thrown directly into the fire against the Houston Rockets in their first game when the season resumes. If the Mavericks want a real chance at moving up in the standings, as they’re 1.5 games back at the moment, being as sharp as possible will be key. These three scrimmages provide Dallas coach Rick Carlisle a good opportunity to measure his team against some of the best teams in the league prior to halt in play.

As they are just scrimmages, we’re unlikely to see any footage from the contests, but expect a heavy amount of coverage if the NBA allows media to speak to players and coaches following the scrimmages.