NBA 2009-2010 Opening Night: Washington Wizards vs. Dallas Mavericks | IXGAMES

October 27, 2009, opening night for the 2009-2010 NBA season had a number of interesting games stacked up for NBA fans.  Some of these games included the Boston Celtics visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Los Angeles Clippers visiting the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Houston Rockets visiting the Portland Trailblazers.  Aside from these exciting season openers, another great game took place between the Washington Wizards and the Dallas Mavericks.  These two teams have been the subject of criticism for seasons now, with Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs struggling to win their first Championship and the Wizards unable to pull it together to get back into championship form.  For the 2009-2010 season, however, these two teams have made some major roster changes that will have each team ready to make a run for the Playoffs and an NBA Championship Title. Changes made by the Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks have had to make some key decisions regarding trades, contract signings, and re-signings.  The team decided to re-sign Jason Kidd, who is one of the best veteran point guards in the league.  The team also singed guard Quinton Ross, forward Tim Thomas, and forward Drew Gooden.  These three players will provide some great back-up off of the bench.  Aside from these crucial acquisitions, one of the biggest acquisitions made by the Mavericks for the upcoming season is the trade for forward Shawn Marion.  The Mavs traded forward Devean George and guard Antoine Wright to the Raptors to get Marion, forward Kris Humphries, cash considerations, and center Nathan Jawai (whom they later traded off to another team).  So the team now has a solid core with Jason Kidd, Erik Dampier, Dirk Nowitzki, and Sean Marion, backed by players like Jason Terry, Quinton Ross, Jose Barea, Drew Gooden, and Josh Howards. Changes made by the Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards have been on a tough journey throughout the past few seasons, especially with their All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas only playing a total of 15 games in the past two NBA seasons.  For the 2009-2010 season, however, Arenas is back in good health and the Wizards have made some changes to get ready for a strong push to get back into the Playoffs and have a shot at the 2010 NBA Championship Title.  The Wizards have made trades with the Timberwolves to acquire guard Randy Foye and forward Mike Miller in exchange for Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, Oleksiy Pecherov and draft considerations.  The team also signed the San Anotonio’s former center Fabricio Oberto.  The team also acquired guard Vincent Grier and forward Paul Davis.  For opening night, the team went with the starting lineup of Gilbert Arenas, Mike Miller, Brendan Haywood, Caron Butler, and Fabricio Oberto.  Off the bench, Blatche and Foye both performed well, contributing a total of 39 points between the two. Opening night between the Wizards and Mavs Arenas scored 29 points and dished 9 assists to help the Wizards win their opening game.  Though Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points and pulled down 9 rebounds, the Mavs couldn’t pull it off, despite strong performances by Sean Marion, Jason Terry, and Jose Barea.  The final score was Washington Wizards with 102 over the Dallas Mavericks with 91.