The Dallas Mavericks (25-55) head back to the Lone Star state Friday night to face off against their division rivals, the San Antonio Spurs (61-19). It’s the last road game of the last road trip of the season, and it’s one that might have some real sway as far as the offseason goes. At the time of writing, Dallas finds themselves in a dead heat with the Memphis Grizzlies for the sixth best lottery odds, and only one game behind the New Orleans Pelicans. The outcome of these last couple matchups may
make the difference between a Mikel Brown Jr. and an AJ Dybantsa.
The Spurs enter Friday evening without much of a concern. They’ve won four of their last five, 13 of their last 15, and they’ve mathematically locked themselves into the two-seed – most likely setting them up for a easy first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers or the Phoenix Suns. Victor Wembanyama did recently suffer a left rib contusion against the Philadelphia 76ers, causing him to miss the last couple outings; however, it’s expected that he’ll suit up either against Dallas Friday night or the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, clearing the way for his first career postseason appearance.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, are about as far afield as you can get from meaningful postseason basketball. They put up a pretty decent showing against the Luka Dončić-less, Austin Reaves-less Los Angeles Lakers last Sunday, but then collapsed back to the norm against the Clippers Tuesday night and the Suns on Wednesday. There’s a subtle poetry to the fact that Dallas’ last two losses are San Antonio’s two most likely first-round matchups – almost like the basketball gods are reminding us just how far this team is from contending.
Here are three storylines to follow as the Mavericks play their last road game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs.
Mavericks role players making their case
Now that we’re arriving at the end of the regular season, it’s time to start making some decisions regarding the future of this roster. Dallas’ role players certainly know this – and they’re making their last-ditch attempts to leave an impression on the front office. C-teamer John Poulakidas has been an interesting watch in this depleted Mavericks squad, most notably putting up 23 against the Suns on Wednesday. Moussa Cissé and Marvin Bagley III also continue to make their case, with the latter of the two scoring a combined 41 over the last two outings.
On the flip side, things have looked rougher for Khris Middleton recently, and AJ Johnson’s first real outing wasn’t especially inspiring. As pointed out by Mavs Moneyball’s Joe Friedman, Johnson went a brutal 1-11 from the field against the Suns, with many of those possessions stalling out what little offensive flow the Mavericks could generate. Whether Johnson is a part of Dallas’ future remains to be seen; as far as the 2025-2026 season goes, he and the others only have a couple more in-game opportunities to show what they’ve got.
Young superstars leading the way
If there’s one thing that Dallas and San Antonio has in common right now, it’s that they’ve pushed all their chips in on their young superstars. For the Mavericks, this hasn’t quite paid dividends yet. Cooper Flagg has been absolutely transcendent, yes, filling just about every role imaginable while also posting some mind-boggling scoring figures (51 against the Orlando Magic and 45 against the Lakers, most recently). But his efforts haven’t quite translated to wins this season – most likely, this will require some very intentional work over the next couple years to fill roster gaps and develop a team that effectively complements his skillset.
San Antonio, on the other hand, is actively bearing the fruit of this exact kind of hard work. At the beginning of the season, I wrote that Victor Wembanyama’s Spurs hadn’t yet developed into the offensive powerhouse everyone was expecting. Well, I stand corrected. At the time of writing, San Antonio holds an 119.4 offensive rating for the 2025-2026 regular season, as well as a 111.1 defensive rating to boot. They’re one of the best teams in the league at both ends of the floor, due in large part to the contributions of early-career players like Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and Julian Champagnie. And, of course, Victor Wembanyama is leading the way, averaging around 25/11/3 and gluing the entire Spurs system together.
Dallas’ struggles down I-35
Just like the good ol’ days! It’s not much of a shock that Dallas has a bad record against the Spurs this season, given that the Mavericks have been more or less rebuilding from the ground up after the Anthony Davis trade. But it is worth noting how pronounced the disparity is. As of right now, Dallas has played San Antonio three times in the 2025-26 NBA regular season. San Antonio has taken the victory all three times, with final scores of 125-92, 135-123, and 138-125. In other words, Dallas hasn’t even gotten close – and there’s probably not much hope of changing that going into Friday night.
Maybe some day, we’ll see a return to the Mavericks-Spurs rivalry of old, with Cooper Flagg leading Dallas to a postseason victory on the way to a Finals run. For now, though, those dreams are a long way off, and we still have a lottery to think about in the meantime.
The road ahead
After Friday night’s game, Dallas returns home for the final game of the season, facing off against a very shorthanded Chicago Bulls.
How to watch
The San Antonio Spurs host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, April 10 at 7:00 PM CT. The game will be streamed live on MavsTV, and will also be broadcast on KFAA. As usual, fans can also tune in at 97.1FM KEGL (English) or at 99.1FM KFZO (Español).
