Luka Doncic racked up 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists Thursday night as the Dallas Mavericks used a strong second half to beat the visiting San Antonio Spurs 120-109 in the season opener for both teams.
The Mavericks found their stroke in the third quarter to flip their two-point halftime deficit into a 14-point lead. Dallas surged again after the Spurs pulled within seven points entering the fourth quarter, building an 111-90 cushion with 6:01 to play.
Klay Thompson added 22 points while going 6-for-10 from beyond the arc in his Mavericks debut. Dereck Lively II had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Kyrie Irving also scored 15 points and Jaden Hardy and P.J. Washington each tallied 11 points in the win.
Julian Champagnie and Jeremy Sochan paced San Antonio with 18 points each. Victor Wembanyama and Harrison Barnes added 17 points apiece, and Wembanyama had nine rebounds.
The Spurs led 22-20 after the first quarter and went up 36-30 midway through the second on Champagnie’s 3-pointer.
Dallas pulled even at 42 on Lively’s dunk before the visitors responded with a 7-2 run punctuated by a Sochan alley-oop layup with 1:16 left before halftime.
San Antonio led 49-47 at the break after outshooting the Mavericks 45.2 percent to 35.8 percent in the half.
Barnes led all scorers with 14 points before halftime, while Champagnie added a dozen for the Spurs. Doncic had nine points at the half to lead Dallas.
The Mavericks surged to open the third quarter, reeling off a 16-4 run for a 63-53 lead less than four minutes into the period. The lead expanded to 14 on Washington’s 3-pointer with 7:11 left.
San Antonio fought back to within 74-72 on a jumper by Keldon Johnson with 3:40 remaining in the period before Dallas answered and carried an 87-80 edge into the final period.
