Aging veteran basketball may be a thing of the past in downtown Dallas in the coming years, but American Airlines Center fans got a glimpse of how a fine wine might age throughout the next 81 games Wednesday night.
Beginning his 20th season in a Mavericks’ uniform, future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki started alongside 2017 first-round pick Dennis Smith Jr. in the Mavs’ season opener Wednesday, but Dallas came up on the short end of a 117-111 loss to the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
And Nowitzki wasn’t on the floor in the clutch part of the final six minutes of a tight game.