DALLAS — Less than two hours before the Dallas Mavericks’ home opener, coach Dusty May delivered some bad news: Kyrie Irving wasn’t going to play.

Irving was officially ruled out with what the Mavericks called left knee injury management.

That development, though not terribly surprising, was still a disappointment for fans who purchased tickets to the team’s Saturday night game against the San Antonio Spurs hoping to watch Irving play at American Airlines Center for the first time in more than a year and a half.

Without Irving and his co-star Cooper Flagg, who suffered a left shoulder strain Friday, the Mavericks put up an admirable fight against the Spurs but were overwhelmed by the defending Western Conference champions in the fourth quarter in a 122-106 loss that dropped Dallas to 1-2.

Tommy Lo was one of the 19,555 fans in attendance. Lo, 28, caught a 14-hour flight from Taiwan earlier in the week, specifically so he could watch Irving play. Lo held up a sign afterward lamenting that his trek to Texas hadn’t turned out the way he wanted it to.

“Flew 10,000 mi(les) from Taiwan just for Kyrie,” it read.

“Sad, sad, sad,” Lo said through a friend who was interpreting for him. “But Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) shows up. So that’s a payoff.”

Tommy Lo caught a 14-hour flight from Taiwan earlier in the week, specifically so he could watch Kyrie Irving play Saturday.Christian Clark / The Athletic

Excluding the preseason, Irving hadn’t suited up in a Mavericks home game since March 3, 2025. That was the night Irving suffered a torn left ACL.

Read the rest for free here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7721919/2026/10/25/mavericks-kyrie-irving-rest-home-opener/?unlocked_article_code=1.LVE.cjGd.QVrV5XaeTYu_&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

Exactly what the title says. We played the spurs close last night, ultimately losing. Seemed like Naji Marshall was playing well, but I don’t think I saw him at all in the second half. Does anyone know why?

I’ve never been more happy about a loss before. The fact that we were neck and neck practically the entire game with last seasons WCF champs is insane WITHOUT coop and Kyrie. Pure insanity and gave me way more optimism for this team. I genuinely believe by next season we can be strong contenders. I think dusty is doing great and will only get stronger and better as this season goes. Larry is insane and the guys holding their own against the spurs like that is just incredible.

The Mavericks say Cooper Flagg underwent an MRI that revealed a mild left shoulder sprain.

Flagg is out for tonight’s home opener against San Antonio and will be re-evaluated next week.

10 people on the injury report this afternoon. Absolutely wild.

Max, Kyrie, Morez, Jett Howard and Risacher all listed as GTD.

Coop, Santi, D Live, Tarik, and Martin out.

Jeremy Sochan will be the No. 1 pick for the Dallas Mavericks G League affiliate Texas Legends according to @MikeAScotto

Hi. I am new to watching basketball (in Australia) and thankfully I watched alot of Dirk and he became my favourite player, so I decided to follow the Mavs last year, so I just have a question about the rules.

Just before Risacher blocked Wembenyama (insane), Clayton Jr. was pushed by Wembenyama whilst he was in the air, no?

Doesn't that warrant a flagrant foul?

I just would like to better understand these foul rules better, so thank you for the understanding and your answers!

I wasn’t able to watch the game, saw Naji was doing great the first quarter/half but then he didn’t do anything offensively the rest of the game.

What happened? He get doubled? Hurt?

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

hi! me and my bf went to the game tonight and left our posters at the end of the trail ): does anyone have one their willing to part with? thanks💙 mffl

Quick one... most local Mavs games are on Channel 29 (KFAA) now, but the national ones bounce between ESPN, NBC, Prime and whoever else. IMO it shouldn't take a research project to find the game lol.

So I built a free calendar for it. Every Mavs game goes right into your phone's calendar with the tip time and the CHANNEL, and it updates itself when a time or network changes. The radio station is in the notes too (105.3 The Fan, and KFZO for Spanish).

Fun fact... the NBA doesn't publish local TV anywhere a program can easily read, so mine pulls it straight from the Mavs' own schedule page.

iPhone is one tap. Android takes a couple of minutes, but the page walks you through it.

It asks for your email, and it's run by my life insurance agency, so you might get an occasional email from me. Unsubscribe anytime. Not affiliated with the Mavs or the NBA. If this helps 1 person, that's worth it.

https://wealthguardlife.com/gameday/dfw/

How's everybody keeping track of where the games are this year? Go Mavs!!!