NBA fans are counting down the days until the start of the 2024-25 season, and Dallas Mavericks fans can start planning which games they’d like to attend. Dallas Calendar was announced last week.
The Mavs open the season at home against the San Antonio Spurs, with several key matchups scheduled early on, including Klay Thompson Returns to the Bay Area November 12th.
Thompson’s return to Chase Center on Nov. 12 also marks Dallas’ first NBA Cup game, and despite their group being extremely toughAll eyes are already on Luka Doncic and the Mavs.
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey made a handful of Predictions before the NBA Cup later this year, and one of those predictions is that Doncic will be the leading scorer in the NBA Cup. Doncic led the league in scoring last season, and Bailey believes his scoring prowess will be showcased at the highest level in the NBA Cup.
The main reason Bailey thinks Doncic will be the NBA Cup’s leading scorer is Group C’s lack of elite perimeter defenders. Bailey looks at the only team that has multiple locked-down perimeter defenders: the New Orleans Pelicans with Herb Jones and Trey Murphy, and while Group C is the group of death, Doncic should dominate offensively as he usually does.
Group C consists of Dallas, New Orleans, Memphis, Golden State and Denver, and no matter who those teams face Doncic, he’s always going to put on an offensive show. No one can really stop Doncic, and he’s always at his best when the lights are on.
Doncic has a big presence in big games, and that’s exactly what he’s ready to do in the NBA Cup. He has plenty of experience in midseason tournaments, which is another reason Bailey gave for why Doncic has dominated his opponents.
Doncic will be out for blood after the Mavs’ disappointing performance in last year’s season opener, and Bailey’s official prediction is that he’ll average 35 points per game. As a reminder, Doncic averaged 33.8 points per game in last year’s season opener, but that didn’t earn him the tournament scoring title. That ranks him fourth among players who have played three or more games.
The Mavs may not be the favorite to win Group C at this point, but Doncic taking charge of this tournament could change everything quickly once the NBA Cup begins on Nov. 12.
