The Dallas Mavericks’ first regular-season meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers would fall on Nov. 28, 2025 — the day after Thanksgiving — if the NBA’s provisional schedule holds, league insider Marc Stein reported.
Stein noted the timeline while sharing that the in-season NBA Cup group play runs from Oct. 31 through Nov. 28, which is where the Mavericks-Lakers date appears.
The report frames the matchup as the teams’ first marquee regular-season meeting after a blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers earlier in the 2024–25 season.
If the provisional dates remain unchanged, the Mavericks will open their 2025–26 regular season at home on Oct. 22 against the San Antonio Spurs, creating separate high-profile dates for Dallas and leaving the Christmas slate unchanged for a Lakers reunion with former stars.
The NBA will finalize the full 2025–26 schedule later this month, with the league typically releasing official dates in mid-August; until then, the SteinLine’s timeline should be considered provisional.
From a competitive standpoint, an NBA Cup meeting on Nov. 28 would give both teams an early-season platform to measure roster changes and health before the long grind of the regular season.
