The Mavericks are off to a hot start to a big win over the Magic

Luka Doncic scored 14 of his 32 points in the first quarter as the Dallas Mavericks got off to a hot start en route to a 108-85 NBA victory over the injury-plagued Orlando Magic on Sunday.

The Mavs, who came up short in their comeback against Houston on Thursday, took control early against an Orlando team that was missing 2023 rookie of the year Paolo Banchero because of an oblique injury.

Dallas scored the most in the first third of the season, taking a 30-22 lead after one quarter and never trailing after that.

Franz Wagner led the Magic with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, but Orlando made just eight of 41 three-point attempts and were outscored 52-36.

Doncic added nine rebounds and seven assists, Daniel Gafford scored 18 points and star guard Kyrie Irving added 17 for Dallas, which led by as many as 33 points.

“Today was really fun,” Doncic said. “We protected everyone, defended, rebounded and played with a lot of speed. So that’s fun for me.”

Klay Thompson, a four-time NBA champion with Golden State who joined Dallas as a free agent this season, had a quiet night with nine points on four of 10 shots and connected on just one of his five three-point attempts.

But Mavs coach Jason Kidd said he was impressed with Thompson's performance, aside from his scoring prowess.

“I thought he had a great game,” Kidd said. “I know we're paying attention to him because he scores goals and shoots threes, but I thought his style of play and his energy were high. He was at a very high level on both ends.”

The Detroit Pistons rebounded from a 30-point loss to the New York Knicks on Friday to pick up their second win of the season, 106-92 over the Nets in Brooklyn.

Star guard Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, and for the first time this season, every Pistons starter scored in double figures.

Tobias Harris scored 18 points on eight of 13 shooting with six assists and five rebounds, and Malik Beasley added 18 points off the bench for Detroit, which trailed by five points at halftime but finally got in on Harris' jump shot with 3:08 left The lead went into the third quarter.

– 'Two-Way Trae' –

In New Orleans, Atlanta's Jalen Johnson scored 29 points and Trae Young added 23 points, four rebounds, 12 assists and a steal as the Hawks handed the injury-depleted Pelicans their first home loss of the season, 126-111.

New Orleans star Zion Williamson, who averages 21.4 points, eight rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, was sidelined with a strained right hamstring.

He was on the sidelines with star guard CJ McCollum and forward Herbert Jones, with McCollum suffering from a right adductor muscle strain and Jones suffering from a shoulder injury.

Forward Brandon Ingram did what he could to close the gap, scoring 32 points, but it wasn't enough in the face of a balanced Atlanta attack that had six players score in double figures and the Pels outscored the paint 66-32.

Atlanta's Larry Nance, who scored 14 points off the bench against his former team, said the win started with an “impressive” performance from Young.

“That was a two-way tie,” Nance said. “My husband was grabbing steals, playing defense and diving on the floor. He dictated the game the entire second half.”

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