The Wednesday NBA slate is loaded with 12 games to get the season started, as the battle of Texas tonight features the Dallas Mavericks hosting the San Antonio Spurs at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Rookie Cooper Flagg makes his debut tonight for Dallas after getting selected with the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. This Southwest division showdown tips off at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Let’s look at the Spurs vs. Mavericks prediction and picks for Wednesday night, including our top player picks for PrizePicks real money NBA game tonight on Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis stats.
Spurs vs. Mavericks Prediction, Preview for 10/22/25
The Mavs made plenty of headlines last season by trading G Luka Doncic to the Lakers, one season after taking Dallas to the NBA Finals.
Dallas acquired PF Anthony Davis for Doncic, trying to reset the roster. The Mavs lucked out with its NBA Draft lottery victory to grab Flagg out of Duke as the new savior.
The Spurs feature a new head coach for the first time since 1996 after Gregg Popovich retired. Mitch Johnson takes over the San Antonio sideline as the Spurs seek their first playoff appearance in seven seasons.
The Spurs will be without PG De'Aaron Fox and SF Jeremy Sochan in the season opener, while the Mavericks will be without PG Kyrie Irving, C Daniel Gafford, and SG Dante Exum.
San Antonio Spurs
- The Spurs started last season with a respectable 18-16 record, but San Antonio finished 16-32 in the final 48 games.
- G De’Aaron Fox averaged 19.7 points per game after getting traded from Sacramento in early February. However, Fox is listed as doubtful for the opener with a hamstring injury.
- San Antonio ranked 25th in the NBA in defensive rating at 116.3, a drop from the 2023-2024 season at 115.6.
Dallas Mavericks
- The Mavericks finished 39-43 last season, but found its way in the play-in tournament. Their playoff run lasted two games, defeating Sacramento before getting bounced by Memphis.
- Dallas ranked 23rd in offensive rating from February 10 through the play-in tournament. Prior to the Doncic trade, the Mavs sat seventh in the NBA in offensive rating, although Luka played 28 of 53 games.
- Since the 2019-20 campaign, the Mavericks have not missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
Spurs vs. Mavericks Picks & NBA DFS
Spurs PF/C Victor Wembanyama vs. Mavericks Projection: 24.5 Points
- Wembanyama led San Antonio in scoring last season, averaging a career-high 24.3 points per game.
- The top pick of the 2023 draft faced the Mavericks once last season, scoring 17 points on 5-of-18 shooting from the floor.
- Wembanaya struggled against division opponents, shooting 43.1% from the floor and posting 19.9 points per game in eight games.
- His offensive rating jumped from 107.9 his rookie season to 112.5 in his sophomore campaign.
Mavericks PF/C Anthony Davis vs. Spurs Projection: 35.5 Points+Rebounds
- Davis played only nine regular season games with Dallas after his trade from Los Angeles. His scoring average slipped from 25.7 ppg with the Lakers to 20.0 ppg in Dallas.
- His combined average of points and rebounds with the Mavericks was 30, while pulling down at least 10 rebounds in four games.
- Davis stepped up in the two play-in tournament games, averaging 33.5 points per game.
- In all three games against the Spurs last season, he eclipsed this points and rebounds projection. One of his top performances came on November 15 as a member of the Lakers, racking up 40 points and 12 boards.
Spurs SG Devin Vassell vs. Mavericks Projection: 16.5 Points
- Vassell put up a career-high scoring average in the 2023-24 season of 19.5 points per game. His scoring output dropped last season to 16.3 ppg, as he has yet to play more than 71 games in a season in his career.
- In two matchups against Dallas, Vassell scored 16 and 24 points, but struggled from 3-point land by shooting 5-of-16.
- Vassell’s net rating on the road was -8.6, compared to -4.0 at home. However, his EFG% on the road sat at 53.9%, as opposed to 51.7% at home.
- In five of his final seven road games last season, he scored 17 or more points.
Make Picks on NBA on PrizePicks
The Mavericks start a new chapter with Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis in this division battle against the Spurs in Dallas. Meanwhile, the Spurs will look to take a step forward with their young core.
As the NBA season gets under way, there's never been a better time to add to the excitement of every NBA moment than with PrizePicks.
There is a wide variety of player stat projections on the NBA board, so you can make your NBA predictions on any players tonight. Just pick at least two player stat projections to build your Lineup on PrizePicks and cash in when you're right.
Check out the Playbook throughout the entire 2025-26 NBA season for more analysis for your PrizePicks and NBA DFS Lineups.
