DALLAS — The San Antonio Spurs will travel to meet the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 22 for the first game of the NBA season for both teams. The matchup will not only feature two teams from the Lone Star State, but also it will be the first game between the top two picks in the most recent NBA draft.
The Mavs selected Duke forward Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick, while the Spurs took point guard Dylan Harper at No. 2. This matchup of top picks is not the only drama involved in opening night for these two Texas teams.
The scheduled matchup between Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper is set to mark the second time since 1966 that the top two picks in the same NBA Draft will face each other in the first career regular-season game for both players.
The previous instance was in 2015 (Karl-Anthony Towns… https://t.co/03X8bYhipw pic.twitter.com/X0NwUtW9ZC
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 12, 2025
Spurs star Victor Wembenyama will be returning from a blood clot that sidelined him for the final 36 games of last season. On the other side of the ball, the Mavs expect power forward Anthony Davis back at full strength after missing 18 games for the team after having been traded from the Los Angeles Lakers in the deal that sent Luka Doncic to Los Angeles.
Both teams have playoff aspirations for the 2025-26 season, and this early test will be an excellent opportunity to see how each team matches up against each other, as both are two of the ascendant teams in the Western Conference.