After destroying the Miami Heat in last year’s finals, the Spurs opened their season against their in-state rival (and honestly the only team that gave them any challenge in the postseason), the Dallas Mavericks.
After their ring ceremony and a few smiles – none of which were from Pop of course, the Spurs were back to business as usual. It doesn’t take much for the pass first well oiled machine San Antonio team to get back into the groove as they won at home 101-100.
Led by one of the best trios in the league history, Duncan (14), Parker (23) and Ginobili (20) combined for 57 pts as they picked up right where they left off last season. Danny Green showed his touch hitting 3 from deep and the scary thing about it is they were without 2014 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard tonight.
The much improved Mavericks will be in the mix come playoff time as they the re-acquired Tyson Chandler and added some shooting/defensive presence in Chandler Parsons. Dirk and Monte led all Dallas scorers with 18 and 26 respectively. Once they find their chemistry (which shouldn’t take long since Carlisle is a great coach) it will be interesting to see how far they can go this postseason.
Sidebar: Gregg Popovich is already in championship form when it comes to these interviews.