The 2026-27 NBA schedules have been out for about a week now. It’s true, the Dallas Mavericks are something of a question mark this season, but the team’s slate is still chock-full of appointment television. The season tips off on Wednesday, October 21st in Houston and concludes at home against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, April 11th.
In between lay 80 juicy NBA morsels ripe for the watching. Here are five dates that we think stand out on the schedule:
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Oct. 21: Irving’s presumptive return
The season opener at the Houston Rockets on Oct. 21 is interesting for a number of reasons. It’s the start of Cooper Flagg’s second season, in which he could vault himself into another tier of stardom in the NBA. It will be our first look at Dusty May and his coaching philosophy as he transitions from a meteoric rise in the college game. Not to mention, our first look at Morez Johnson Jr., who played for May last year during the Michgan Wolverines’ NCAA title run.
But, make no mistake, all eyes will be on Kyrie Irving if the season opener is indeed his first game back after missing the entire 2025-26 season while rehabbing from a torn left ACL. How good can the 34-year-old be in his 15th NBA season?
Irving has looked nice in the workouts he and others have posted to social media, but those are workouts. What will he look like in an NBA game? Will the speed and footwork be intact early in the season, or will he have to work his way back into form? Questions will be answered.
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Dec. 17: The next Superteam
Name recognition will not be an issue when the Mavericks travel to Philadelphia to play the new-look 76ers for the first time this season on Dec. 17. LeBron James. Jaylen Brown. Joel Embiid. Tyrese Maxey. VJ Edgecombe. This one could be an ugly result for Mavs fans, but it’s an opponent you simply don’t want to miss.
You may ask, why not Feb. 15, when the 76ers travel to Dallas? Couldn’t it, after all, be James’ final appearance at American Airlines Center? Yes. Yes, it could be. But for whatever reason, I’m choosing to believe that he will exercise the player option for his second season of the two-year deal he signed with the Sixers in July.
Jan. 16: Garden party against the champs
The Mavericks get their first look against the World Champion New York Knickerbockers on Jan. 16, when they travel to Madison Square Garden for the first of two matchups during the 2026-27 season.
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That’s right, former Maverick Jalen Brunson is an NBA Champion, as Dallas’ fortunes have gone in the opposite direction lately. Brunson has emerged as one of the best point guards in the game since signing with New York, one of the many sources of angst for Mavericks fans.
The Mavs inexplicably jumped up and bit Brunson and the Knicks, 114-97, at the Garden on Jan. 19 last season. That game remains memorable as one of a handful of wins in the second half of the season that took a few draft lottery balls out of Dallas’ hands when it was already becoming clear they were not a playoff-caliber team.
Jan. 19: Coop vs. Kon, Round 2
The Mavericks dropped both games to the Charlotte Hornets last season, including one instant classic wherein former Duke roommates Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel showed glimpses of greatness. In that 123-121 Mavericks loss on Jan. 29, Flagg dropped what was then a season- and career-high scoring mark of 49 points, but Knueppel scored 34 points on 8-of-12 from 3-point range, including two free throws with four seconds left to put the Hornets over the top in their first meeting since college. Flagg nailed his third 3-ball of the game 18 seconds earlier to knot the game at 121-121.
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The second Mavs-Hornets matchup of the season wasn’t nearly as dramatic, as the Hornets ran away with a 117-90 win in a game that Flagg missed with a sprained foot. Flagg would go on to narrowly beat Knueppel out for NBA Rookie of the Year honors with an incredible stretch of individual performances to close out the regular season. He would best that 49-point performance with 51 points and six rebounds against the Orlando Magic on April 3.
On Jan. 19, the Mavericks welcome Knueppel and the Hornets to American Airlines Center for a renewal of the friendly rivalry between the first overall and the fourth overall selections in the 2025 NBA Draft. Here’s hoping both of the young stars are healthy and available for that one.
Feb. 28: Luka’s birthday party
Luka Dončić returns to the scene of the crime with the Los Angeles Lakers in tow on his birthday, Feb. 28. What will the tenor of Dončić’s relationship with his team at that point? The Lakers are in the midst of a major roster shift after James left to join the 76ers in free agency and the team signed center Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz.
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Two things will be certain. Dončić, if healthy, will receive a warm welcome from the AAC crowd, and he will look to put on a show. There’s no way this one ends up a ho-hum, everyday regular-season date. Expect fireworks reminiscent of Dončić’s 45-point explosion on April 9, 2025, his first game back after The Trade That Shall Not Be Spoken Of.
Oh, and Flagg should be there, too, having taken the mantle of All-Everything Man for the Mavericks in the wake of said trade.
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