In what could be Dirk Nowitzki's farewell season, the Dallas Mavericks will take on the New Orleans Pelicans the returning Anthony Davis to officially kick off their 2016-17 NBA season build-up at CenturyLink Center in Bossier City, Louisiana.
Preview:
The Mavs entered the season at the crossroad of pushing the re-start button or beefing up the roster with veterans to give Nowitzki's his one last shot at an NBA title.
Dallas made moves to hit two birds by acquiring a future cornerstone in Harrison Barnes and grizzled veteran Andrew Bogut. While the departure of Chandler Parson to Memphis Grizzlies is a significant loss, the Mavs are actually a better team on paper this season.
The Pelicans, on the other hand, look to bounce back from a horrible season under Alvin Gentry. Davis, who missed a major chunk of the 2015-16 season due to injury, will be back bigger and taller than ever.
New Orleans hopes their acquisition of Lance Stephenson and Terrence Jones will provide them much-needed boost, especially with Jrue Holiday sitting out the first few weeks of the season to attend his ailing wife.
Players to Watch:
Dallas: All eyes will be on Harrison Barnes in his Mavs debut. The former North Carolina Tarheel standout had a great run behind Klay Thompson and Steph Curry during his tenure with Golden State. With the Mavericks, he will have all the opportunities in the world to showcase his talent as the primary scoring option from the perimeter.
New Orleans: It will be interesting how Anthony Davis will be bounce back from a bad year. The All-Star power forward averaged 24.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in 61 games last season. Despite putting up monster stats, Davis wasn't selected into the All-NBA team. That would motivate him to produce more this year.
Prediction:
The Pelicans are going to miss Holiday's facilitating skills a lot. The Mavs, meanwhile, is expected to run a lot of plays for Barnes, who is poised to be the team's leading scorer. In the end, I see the Mavs edging the Pelicans largely because of New Orleans' injury woes.
Live stream is available on NBA League Pass.