For the second time in four seasons, the Dallas Mavericks will be playing a regular season game in Mexico City.
The NBA announced Friday that the NBA Mexico City Games will involve the Mavs, San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns. The Mavs will face the Pistons on Dec. 12, while the Spurs will meet the Suns on Dec. 14.
On Jan. 12, 2017, Deron Williams finished with 23 points and 12 assists, Harrison Barnes tallied 22 points and Wesley Matthews added 18 points to lead the Mavs to a 113-108 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Mexico City.
Overall, this mark the third time the Mavs will have played a regular season game in Mexico City and the third time they’ve played a regular season game in any country besides the United States and Canada. On Dec. 6, 1997, the Houston Rockets edged the Mavs in a game in Mexico City, 108-106, in the first NBA regular season contest ever played in Latin America.
A return trip to Mexico City, which will afford fans in that city to see one of the NBA’s rising young stars in Mavs point guard Luka Doncic, is a trip that the Mavs truly treasure.
“We are thrilled to be one of the teams that plays internationally again this season,” coach Rick Carlisle said in a statement. “It is an honor to come back to Mexico City and showcase our game to these great fans.”
The two games will be the 29th and 30th games the NBA has played in Mexico since 1992. That’s the most NBA games played in any country other than the United States and Canada.
This also will be the fourth straight season at least two regular season games will have been played in Mexico City. The two games next season will be broadcast live on ESPN Deportes, Televisa and NBA League Pass in Mexico, and will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories.
“NBA games in Mexico City are a core part of our efforts to reach and engage basketball fans throughout Mexico and Latin America,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “With a record four NBA teams visiting Mexico City next season, we expect an unprecedented level of interest and excitement around these games and our surrounding community events.”
In addition to the two games, the NBA Mexico City Games will also feature NBA Cares community outreach initiatives.
The Mavs are 2-2 in preseason games played in Mexico City. They lost to the Houston Rockets, 104-102, on Oct. 27, 1992, and to the Utah Jazz, 90-85, on Oct. 5, 2003. But the Mavs won a pair of preseason games in Mexico City – 107-102 over the Jazz on Oct. 26, 1996, and 88-86 over Cleveland on Oct. 27, 1996.
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