Mavericks vs. Spurs Final score: Dallas defeated San Antonio, 120-119

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 120-109 in their season opener. Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 28 points, while Jeremy Sochan and Julian Champagnie led the Spurs with 18 points.

The game started off like a tough battle with both teams showing a lot of rust and struggling to score. Harrison Barnes provided a spark for the Spurs as he was a ball of energy against one of his former teams. Doncic, in particular, looked very rusty after not playing in the preseason, as he was 4 of 14 from the field and 0 of 5 from three in the first half. At halftime the Spurs led 49-47.

The second half was a different story as the Mavericks hit both shots and several loud dunks that got the crowd excited. The Mavericks built a big lead before allowing the Spurs to claw their way back into the game after a timely timeout by Gregg Popovich. This allowed Chris Paul to use some of his experienced tricks to get the Spurs to bring the score to a three-point game.

The Mavericks then reasserted themselves and simply dominated for most of the fourth quarter, building a 20-point lead before the final lead dropped to 11 after a few sloppy minutes late in the game.

Here are the things you should know

The Mavericks' center position is in good hands

Dereck Lively II is the Mavericks' best center despite coming off the bench. He looked like an evolutionary elite player, Draymond Green, as he controlled the court on both ends, despite being compared to one of the most prodigious talents in NBA history. Lively finished the game with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, leading fellow center Daniel Gafford by 28 to 19 minutes played.

Gafford's performance wasn't as loud as Lively's, but he also did a fair amount of dirty work despite being limited to 19 minutes due to foul trouble (five fouls). His nine points, six rebounds and two assists gave the Mavericks duo a total of 24 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists in 47 minutes.

Most importantly, they combined to limit Victor Wembenyama to a very easy 17 points, nine rebounds and one assist on 5 of 18 shooting. The Mavericks are a long way from having Javale McGee under center in the season opener two years ago.

Klay Thompson is still him

There were major concerns about Thompson as last season and the preseason were sluggish. Some of this is justified. He's not quite what he once was, but he's still an absolutely lethal shooter who fills a position in the Mavericks' offense that teams traditionally don't guard. That's simply not an option with Thompson.

Thompson also showed off his basketball IQ, which he used to collect three steals and seven rebounds in addition to his six made three-pointers. Thompson will have bad games, but he is a huge booster for the Mavericks.

Jaden Hardy is the Mavericks' third guard

With Spencer Dinwiddie and Quentin Grimes on the team alongside Hardy, there were some questions about who would be the next man up behind Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Hardy made it clear that he deserves this position tonight. He shot well, going 3 of 5 from three. More importantly, he was decisive and made several really nice passes, but only managed two assists in the end.

Luka Doncic is inevitable

This started out as one of the worst games of Luka's career. He looked rusty at the start of the game and missed every shot. This was to be expected after he didn't play any preseason games, but it was still a disappointment for one of the best players the NBA has ever seen. Doncic made up for some of his weaknesses with very good team defense, including a few possessions against Wembenyama.

Then the second half began, Doncic found his jumper and finished the game with 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He also had one of the most jaw-dropping passes anyone will ever have seen, realizing Wembenyama was there to challenge his layup before making a cheeky over-the-shoulder pass to PJ Washington, who thankfully gave up the open look. Doncic is just too good to be bad for long.

Overall, there were certainly some issues, but the Mavericks got a win and that's always a good way to start the season.

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