Power trio leads Mavericks to season-opening win against Spurs

The Mavericks introduced their new ham and egg attack on opening night.

With a side of sizzling bacon called Klay Thompson.

Powerful three-pointers from Thompson, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving combined for 65 points and led the Mavericks to a 120-109 season-opening victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday at American Airlines Center.

Thompson made six three-pointers, the most ever for a Maverick in his franchise debut.

He finished the game with 22 points and the Mavericks got plenty of impact from Dončić with 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Irving had 15 points but didn't have to step foot on the court in the fourth quarter.

And as impressive as it was, it was just the first of 82 steps the Mavericks had to take to return to the playoffs.

“It’s a game,” Thompson said. “I don’t want to outdo myself. Tonight was a great start. But I'm not satisfied. We have so much basketball ahead of us. You can never be too high during the regular season.

“We have really big goals. A nice home win won't satisfy us. We want to be really, really good this year and get back to where we were last year.”

He saw his first midrange basket clatter around the basket and fall through. Then he shot a three-pointer with a quick shot from the corner and the hot shooting began. He managed to hit six out of ten balls from distance.

“The feelings were a lot of nervousness and fear. But after a few minutes, when you see one go through, you feel great,” Thompson said. “A great debut. It's only one game in October, but it feels good to have the first game behind us. And setting a record is always a great feeling and something I will never take for granted.”

The Mavericks took control of the game in the third quarter. A season opener that was like many season openers – not particularly sharp, but entertaining nonetheless – swung in their favor and certainly put a smile on Jason Kidd's face.

Your defense.

The Mavericks forced turnovers on three consecutive San Antonio possessions in the third quarter, opened a three-point game, went up by 14 and had enough cushion to hold off the Spurs' advance the rest of the way.

“It was a good team effort,” Kidd said. “That first half, anxious, excited. We were good defensively and were able to stay close. In the second half, Luka, Kai and Klay were able to take up the entire court and we got some deflections and steals. Our defense helped us win this game by 120 points. Good team win that we can build on. We still have a lot to learn.”

Thompson added of the defense: “It was unbelievable, especially at the start of the second half when I was all over the pitch and caused some turnovers. I thought that tipped the game in our favor.”

The Mavericks are by no means a finished product. They didn't shoot particularly well (41.2 percent), but got hot in the second half and made their three-point shooting look great (43.2 percent).

“I think we can play a lot better,” Dončić said. “It’s our first game together. It will take some time to get used to what is normal. I'm very excited about the whole season.

“I was terrible. I was rusty the whole first half. In the third quarter things somehow became more open. The legs were back.”

It was Luka's first competitive game since playing with Slovenia at the Olympic qualifying tournament in July. He missed the entire preseason.

The opening game was above all an excellent example of how the powerful three in the backcourt can split the points.

Not to be forgotten was Dereck Lively II, who did quite well against Spurs star Victor Wembanyama with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Wembanyama, a second-year center and reigning Rookie of the Year, struggled to get going on offense as he missed six 3-pointers before finally making one.

He would finish with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Thanks to their defensive strength, the Mavericks increased their lead from a 56-53 lead to a 69-55 lead in the third quarter. The Spurs stayed close. The Mavericks led 87-80 early in the fourth quarter.

When Luka hit a three-pointer and the Spurs inexplicably left Thompson wide enough open to take a dribble and make a three-pointer on the next possession, the Mavericks trailed by 14, 97-83.

The results on opening night looked nothing like what the Mavericks expect in two, three or six months. They were not smooth operators.

But it was a positive start, especially for Thompson.

Even San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who coached Thompson on the U.S. men's national team, said he thinks Thompson and the Mavericks are a perfect fit.

When Popovich was asked before the game about his initial reaction to the Mavericks acquiring Thompson, he said, “Oh my God, how did they do that.”

He decorated himself a bit, but said he drank a second glass of wine afterwards, but not to celebrate.

In any case, everyone was really looking forward to seeing the Mavericks' new product for the first time.

It wasn't always pretty. But that's exactly what happens in most season openers.

But the end result was definitely something nice for the Mavericks.

X: @ESefko