Dallas Mavericks Erases Deficit, Cruises Past Spurs in Second Half

The Dallas Mavericks started their regular season Thursday night against the San Antonio Spurs in the American Airlines Center, their first game in a long road in an attempt to get back to the NBA Finals.

It was an offseason filled with excitement as Dallas brought in future Hall of Famer and all-time great sharpshooter Klay Thompson, headlining a few new key additions. San Antonio, meanwhile, retooled around budding superstar Victor Wembanyama by adding Chris Paul and former Maverick Harrison Barnes.

Dallas started Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Thompson, PJ Washington, and Daniel Gafford, while San Antonio rolled out Paul, Julian Champagnie, Barnes, Sochan, and Wembanyama.

San Antonio started off the game with two made threes by Julian Champagnie and Jeremy Sochan, but Sochan is someone Dallas wanted to shoot threes. Klay Thompson got off to a much better start than he did in the preseason, hitting his first shot of the game off an assist from Luka Doncic, then hitting a corner three off an inbound a few plays later to give Dallas their first lead of the game, 12-10.

Harrison Barnes started the game scorching hot, hitting his first five shots that gave San Antonio a 20-15 lead. A dunk towards the end of the quarter by Dereck Lively II tied the game again at 20, but it was an ugly start offensively for both teams, with the Spurs turning the ball over eight times and Dallas shooting just 8/27 in the first period. San Antonio took a 22-20 lead into the second quarter following Wembanyama’s first basket of the game, a scoop layup underneath Lively.

The second quarter wasn’t much better offensively. Doncic started off the game 1/8, even missing a few layups through contact we’re all used to him hitting. The Mavs were just 3/13 to start the second period as a whole. A Zach Collins three that bounced around and in gave the Spurs a 33-28 lead midway through the period.

Jaden Hardy was able to give them some much-needed offense, hitting three shots from deep in the period fresh off his newly signed contract extension. That stabilized the team, but they still weren’t able to take advantage, heading into halftime down 49-47. Both teams hit just 19 field goals in the first half, but Dallas was shooting 35% from the floor compared to San Antonio’s 45%. The turnovers from the Spurs were the big difference early on.

Klay Thompson hit a three out of halftime to give the Mavs a 50-49 lead. Kyrie Irving hit a tough stepback three, then another Thompson transition three after that, and it finally looked like the Mavs offense had life. After Luka Doncic’s first made three of the game to go up 61-53, Coach Popovich would take a timeout.

The offense would keep on rolling, including Luka Doncic hitting a behind-the-head pass surrounded by Victor Wembanyama out to PJ Washington, who knocked in the corner three to go up 69-55. A quick 7-0 run by the Spurs would get the lead back down into single digits. That run would be ended by a slick Hardy pass to Lively, leading to two made free throws. Wembanyama would hit a three to get the lead down to six on the next possession, and Chris Paul would follow that up with a contested three over Lively to get the lead to three.

A few late baskets in the period gave the Mavs a little breathing room entering the 4th, leading . Dallas is really able to turn up the intensity defensively when they need to and it can turn the tide in games.

A flagrant foul on Sochan led two to free throws by Daniel Gafford, then Gafford found a cutting Quentin Grimes on the ensuing possession to push the lead up to 11 again. Maxi Kleber had an INSANE block on one end, and it led to a WIDE open three for Klay Thompson on the other end to extend the lead to 14. This was the start of a 12-0 run that they’d use to take control of the game.

The Mavs would be on cruise control for the remainder of the game and go on to win 120-109. They outscored the Spurs in the second half by 13.

After a slow start, Luka Doncic led all scorers with 28 points but shot just 9/24 from the floor. He also added ten rebounds and eight assists on the night, but it was clear he was trying to get his legs back. Klay Thompson was electric in his debut, finishing with 22 points and seven rebounds, shooting 6/10 from three-point range. Dereck Lively II also had a great game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and tying a career-high with six assists. That’s the first 15/10/5 game of his career.

San Antonio was led by Jeremy Sochan and Julian Champagnie with 18 points, followed closely by Victor Wembanyama and Harrison Barnes with 17 points. Wembanyama mainly struggled, shooting 5/18 from the floor and turning it over four times. Dallas used an interesting defensive strategy by mainly guarding him with PJ Washington or Maxi Kleber, whoever was at the four, then having a center waiting in the paint for him. They were hampered by turnovers, something Chris Paul was supposed to help fix, with 19 on the night.

Dallas will play against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night at 9 p.m. CST in Phoenix.