What is the Toughest Stretch of the 2024-25 Season for the Dallas Mavericks?

The NBA did the Mavericks no favors early on with the new schedule

Feb 3, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) leaves the game after he appears to suffer a leg injury as he battles for the loose ball with Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA released the full 2024-25 schedule on Thursday afternoon, allowing fans to start speculating about the season a few months before it starts. According to ESPN, the Dallas Mavericks have the third-hardest October and November slate of any team in the NBA based on last year's records, but what is actually their toughest stretch of the season?

Consider a stretch of a season as 8 games, which is roughly 10% of the season, two stretches would be difficult to navigate for any team: mid-November and late January into early February.

Starting on November 8th, this is the Mavs' eight-game lineup: vs. Phoenix Suns, at Denver Nuggets, at Golden State Warriors, at Utah Jazz, vs. San Antonio Spurs, at Oklahoma City Thunder, vs. New Orleans Pelicans, and at Denver (again).

Then, starting on January 23rd: at Oklahoma City (on the second night of a back-to-back vs. Minnesota Timberwolves the night before), vs. Boston Celtics, vs. Washington Wizards, at New Orleans, at Detroit Pistons, at Cleveland Cavaliers, at Philadelphia 76ers, and at Boston.

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A compelling argument could be made for either stretch of the season. The NBA tried to lighten the load of the second stretch listed by putting in the Wizards and Pistons, but there are still six road games including a five-game road trip. The Mavs had a similar trip last year, playing at Indiana, Cleveland, Toronto, and Boston, and went just 1-3 in that span, including a heartbreaking heave by Max Strus to lose to the Cavaliers.

The first stretch is the more difficult game-to-game if early-season Utah is competitive as they've been in years past and San Antonio makes the jump they think they can make, but teams like Denver and Golden State figure to take small steps back from last season after losing valuable pieces in the offseason.

The argument leans more towards that stretch in late January into early February because they have to play the Celtics twice and at Oklahoma City, which were the top seeds of their respective conferences last season. Never mind the emotions of having two NBA Finals rematches, but throwing Cleveland and the 76ers in there will make it difficult to navigate.

Dallas should be a contender for the top seed in the Western Conference if Klay Thompson fits in seamlessly with the team as it projects on paper. They were one of the best teams in the NBA for the last quarter of the season which propelled them to the NBA Finals but made some changes to the roster.

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