DALLAS – The look of confusion was common across the many sets of eyes throughout the American Airlines Center Thursday night, starting with Klay Thompson.
The Dallas Mavericks’ new addition was so shocked that he was left so wide open for a fourth-quarter triple, he took a rhythm dropper only to put his body squarely at the rim.
Before the ball left his hands, the man who delivered the pass, Luka Dončić, was already pointed down, almost as if to say: “Did you let me have this guy on my team?”
That look was echoed by San Antonio Spurs second-year phenom Victor Wembanyama, who was stunned by the extra attention he received, with hands waving at him and bodies thrown at him.
Wembanyama’s coming-out party was delayed by the reminder that Thompson is arguably one of the five best shooters in NBA history, and the Mavericks are the Western Conference champions, with no plans to relinquish the title just because the conference got stronger at the peak
Dončić shook off summer rust, and Thompson showed none as the Mavericks showed no mercy on the Spurs on Thursday night. Thompson’s six triples were a team record in a player’s debut, when he scored 22 in Dallas’ 120-109 victory.
Wembanyama’s second half of his rookie year already has many cementing his name as Defensive Player of the Year now and MVP in the not too distant future. But he got some rough treatment from draft pick Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, the men who manned the middle during Dallas’ run to the NBA Finals.
Wembanyama’s final numbers looked pretty efficient, with 17 points and nine rebounds, but he found unexpected difficulty getting looks, missing 13 of his 18 shots. The addition of veteran Chris Paul didn’t look too promising either, and it’s easy to assume Wembanyama’s rough night combined with Paul’s debut in a Spurs uniform as correlated struggles.
But the night was more about Dallas, a team treated as an afterthought in some ways despite its run through the spring. Minnesota is a trendy pick to reach the Finals, but certainly not trendier than the Oklahoma City Thunder – who had the best record in the conference last year.
The Denver Nuggets actually won the NBA title in 2023, and there is always a discussion about the big box franchises in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
Belief in Dallas is whispered, not proclaimed with a megahorn. The end of Thompson in Golden State — a proud veteran unable to find a place with the only franchise he’s ever known — soured some people on him over the summer.
But through the mud of free-agent negotiations, it’s worth noting that he shot 39% from 3-point range last season and was at 41% after the All-Star break. He probably can’t be who he was, as he’ll turn 35 before All-Star Weekend this season, but he can still be effective.
And playing alongside Dončić, the NBA’s leading perimeter scorer, means great looks will be easy to come by — like that too-good-to-be-true triple one minute into the fourth. That rhythmic dripping is because he has a tendency to overthink, but here he can catch and let it fly.
“It doesn’t make any sense because what we were taught growing up as the best basketball players, you have to jump the highest, you have to run the fastest,” Thompson said. “But somehow, Luka defies that. He plays at his own pace and handles the game as well as I’ve ever seen anyone do it.
“It’s great to be a recipient of that.”
Thompson added that he was just grateful for doing it in a way that would make Dončić “not look stupid,” but that would be difficult on this night or any night.
There’s only so much space in the halfcourt, but playing with Dončić and Kyrie Irving — a superb creator in his own right — means the real estate will be as plentiful as possible because those two must be monitored at all times.
“Klay is patient, we’re trying to figure out his spots,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “When Klay’s not shooting it, he can put it on the floor and make decisions. We’ve talked about that in the past. When we get rookies, our job is hopefully to settle their feet. And I think you can see that his feet are calm, and he is comfortable here and he enjoys it.”
It’s the thrill of the first game, and it’s the Spurs who are far from championship vintage. There will be nights where Thompson struggles, where his feet don’t move defensively as well as he used to – but this trio seems to work pretty well on offense because even if he’s out, he can’t be left open.
“Like I say, there’s plenty of space for me and Kai [Irving] — not just for Klay but for everybody,” Dončić said. “You can’t leave Klay open. You can’t leave Kai open. So it’s … it’s going to be tough for the defenses, but we just have to go game by game. “
Dončić wasn’t his usual self in the first half, but after he erupted, the game was put out of reach midway through the fourth quarter, with the MVP chants a great accompaniment to his 28-point, 10-rebound, eight- help night
Irving and Lively II scored 15 each, with Lively adding 11 rebounds and six assists.
It wasn’t lost on Thompson that he’s playing with Irving, who he battled against during many NBA Finals in those Warriors-Cavaliers tilts, and Spurs forward Harrison Barnes is someone he won a title with during that first Warriors run.
It shows that nothing lasts forever and the only consistency is change – so being flexible is the best attribute. It’s not that the last season in Golden State didn’t leave a mark, or that this year will be smooth sailing.
It just means things are different.
“It makes you thankful to be in the NBA,” Thompson said. “You look around, you see these guys that you came in with still playing at a high level, especially playing like Chris Paul [is]. I mean talking to CP now I’m like, ‘Man, I used to stalk you for 40 minutes.’ I used to hate his gut, now we’re good friends.”
Thompson goes to play another good friend, Kevin Durant with the Phoenix Suns, in a few days after a great first night with many more tests on the horizon.
