San Antonio dropped its full schedule Thursday. Here are the most notable games coming up for the Silver & Black.
SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs dropped their full 82-game season schedule Thursday—a sign that San Antonio’s team will be returning to the hardwood faster than you can say “Mamukelashvili.”
The season stands to be one of the team’s most exciting in years, and potentially the end to its prolonged rebuild and retooling period that started in earnest when the team drafted Victor Wembanyama in 2023. General Manager Brian Wright has since surrounded the young star with All-Star playmakers in De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes; compelling young talent in Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant; and, though he headed west in the offseason, an invaluable teacher in Chris Paul, whose mentorship should reverberate this season and beyond.
What will all that look like in action this year? We have more than 80 games to find out. But for the Spurs purists, here are the most notable games to circle on your calendar.
Oct. 22: Battle of the top picks
The campaign kicks off against the Mavericks in Dallas—a showdown of Texas rivals hunting for the postseason, though they’ve taken wildly different paths of building their current rosters.
The opener will feature the top two overall picks in this summer’s NBA Draft facing off for the first time in meaningful league action. The selection of Cooper Flagg was Mavs fans’ consolation prize after the team shipped off Luka Dončić, while highly touted Rutgers product Dylan Harper figures to be a key figure in the Spurs’ backcourt for years to come.
Oct. 26: Back in action at Frost Bank Center
The third game of the season will be the team’s first at home.
The Silver & Black will welcome the Brooklyn Nets in a game the Spurs will be favored in, giving Harper, Luke Kornet, Kelly Olynyk and the rest of the squad’s newest players their first taste of puro San Antonio enthusiasm during the regular season.
Nov. 7: A date with Durant
The Spurs’ first Emirates NBA Cup game will be against a team that did more than any other this summer to arm up for a major season and deep playoffs run.
Once upon a time (read: a few months ago), the idea of Kevin Durant suiting up for San Antonio was brought to the edge of inevitability by the NBA rumor mill. He did end up coming to Texas… but will be playing for the Houston Rockets, which acquired Durant and more in the offseason to improve a team that finished second in the West last year.
Fans at this game will be able to catch a future Hall of Famer in action while also measuring the Spurs up to a Houston team that we could be calling champions by this time next year.
Dec. 25: A Christmas headliner
Wembanyama put on a show in his Christmas debut last season, submitting a heroic 42-point, 18-rebound performance that nearly willed the Spurs to victory against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
San Antonio returns to the Christmas Day slate this year, against an even tougher opponent: the NBA champion Thunder, expected to be a thorn in the Spurs’ side for years to come. The game will be in Oklahoma City, but the teams will already be familiar with each other; they’re also set to square off in San Antonio on Dec. 23.
Feb. 19: Hooping in Austin
The I-35 Series returns this season immediately following the All-Star Break on Feb. 19 and Feb. 21, when the Spurs will play the Suns and Kings, respectively, in Austin. Fans in the state’s capital will be eager to catch Wemby, who was sidelined last year with blood clots in his shoulder just as San Antonio was getting ready to play at the Moody Center.
March 5: Long-awaited return
The Detroit Pistons will be San Antonio’s opponent when the team returns to the Alamo City for the first time in nearly a month, following a seven-game Rodeo Road Trip and the two Austin matchups.
The Spurs are hoping this will represent the start of a playoff push; of the team’s last 21 games this season, 13 will be played at the Frost Bank Center.
March 6: Welcome back, CP3
By all accounts, last season was a win-win for the Spurs and “Point God” Chris Paul: San Antonio got an injury-free season and valuable mentorship out of the 39-year-old sage, and the future Hall of Famer got his wish to continue playing as part of a starting lineup.
Come March, Spurs fans will be able to say thanks one more time when Paul returns to the Frost Bank Center as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. Depending on how the season shakes out, the game could very well serve as a postseason preview.
April 12: Regular-season finale
Though the team will be hoping this isn’t their final time hitting the hardwood this season, the Spurs will welcome a formidable opponent in three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets to end their regular-season slate. Could the Silver & Black face off with Denver again later in the month? It isn’t out of the question, and if they do it’ll mean the season has been a success.