Tony Parker and Darren Collison will be the matchup of the game for Sunday night when the San Antonio Spurs host the Dallas Mavericks for their first game of the 2012-2013 season.
With the Mavericks waiving Derek Fisher, Collison will be expected to take the majority of the minutes against Tony Parker at the start of the game. Both point guards are speedy and looking to get to the hole as often as they can.
Parker and the Spurs will have to force Collison to mid-range and above since he's shooting 42% in the paint. He's shooting 50% from mid range but hasn't had as many opportunities to prove he can hit that shot consistently this season (4-8). If he can't make outside shots, that'll make it an easy night for the Spurs, especially against the slower bigs they have in the center position.
Parker will have use a good amount of his legs on both sides of the floor, especially if the Mavs look to pick and roll or pop with one of their bigs. Parker will have to push the pace and look to get a huge lead on Dallas early since they're still without their main star, Dirk Nowitzki.
The pressure on carrying the offense won't be too much like in the past weeks with the whole team being healthy again, but look for Parker to get easier shots because of it.
With more perimeter shooters around him, Tony can easily look to get in the paint with a big man setting a pick for him and forcing the defense to rotate.
Dallas has a big rotation of Shawn Marion, Chris Kaman, and Elton Brand, all who usually can't keep up with Parker after being a step behind to protect the paint.
The Spurs have a rotation of bigs who have different styles and strengths on the court and look for Parker to take advantage of that on the defense when the defense has to take a second to think about how they want to cover the play the Spurs are throwing at them.