DALLAS – The look of bewilderment was common on many pairs of eyes throughout the American Airlines Center Thursday night, starting with Klay Thompson.
The Dallas Mavericks’ newest addition was so surprised that he left himself so open for a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that he took a rhythm dribble just to get his body squarely at the rim.
Before the ball left his hands, the man who delivered the pass, Luka Dončić, had already headed towards the field, almost as if to say: “You let me have this guy on my team?”
That look was shared by San Antonio Spurs second-year phenom Victor Wembanyama, who was stunned by the extra attention he received, with hands hitting him and bodies thrown toward 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 give up the title just because the conference He got stronger at the top.
Dončić shook off the summer rust and Thompson showed nothing as the Mavericks showed no mercy to the Spurs on Thursday night. Thompson’s six 3-pointers were a team record in a player’s debut, as he scored 22 in Dallas’ 120-109 victory.
The second half of Wembanyama’s rookie year already has many cementing his name as Defensive Player of the Year now and MVP in the not-too-distant future. But his draft partner Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, the men who ran the middle during Dallas’ run to the NBA Finals, gave him rude treatment.
Wembanyama’s final numbers looked pretty effective, 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 that Wembanyama’s poor night combined with Paul’s debut in a Spurs uniform are correlated struggles.
But the night was more about Dallas, a team treated as an afterthought in some ways despite its spring run. Minnesota is a trendy pick to make the Finals, but certainly no more so than the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had the best record in the conference last season.
The Denver Nuggets actually won the NBA title in 2023, and the big franchises from Los Angeles and the Bay Area are always talked about.
In Dallas, belief is whispered, not proclaimed with a megaphone. Thompson’s end in Golden State — a proud veteran unable to find a place in the only franchise he’s ever known — upset some people over the summer.
But through the muck of free agency 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 make an impact.
And playing alongside Dončić, the NBA’s leading perimeter scorer, means it’ll be easy to get big looks, like that too-good-to-be-true 3-pointer a minute into the fourth. That rhythm dribbling is because he has a tendency to think too much, but here he can catch and let fly.
“It doesn’t make any sense because what we were taught when we were the best basketball players is to jump the highest and run the fastest,” Thompson said. “But somehow, Luka defies that. He plays at his own pace and manipulates the game as well as I’ve ever seen anyone do.
“It’s great to be on the receiving end of that.”
Thompson added that he was simply grateful for the mark so that Dončić “didn’t look stupid,” but that would be difficult on this night or any other.
There is plenty of space in the midcourt, but playing with Dončić and Kyrie Irving (a supreme creator in his own right) means that space will be as plentiful as possible because those two must be monitored at all times.
“Klay is being patient, we’re trying to figure out his spots,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said. “When Klay isn’t shooting, he can lay it down and make decisions. We talked about this in the past. When we welcome new arrivals, our job is to hopefully put them at ease. And I think you can see that his feet are well planted, that he feels comfortable here and he’s enjoying it.”
It’s the excitement of the first game, and it’s the Spurs who are far from winning the championship. There will be nights when Thompson struggles, where his feet don’t move as well on defense as they 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 a lot of room for Kai (Irving) and me, not just Klay but for everyone,” Dončić said. “You can’t leave Klay open. You can’t leave Kai open. So… it’s going to be difficult for defenses, but we have to take it game by game.”
Dončić wasn’t his usual self in the first half, but once he exploded, the game was out of reach midway through the fourth quarter, with the MVP chants a great accompaniment to his 28 points, 10 rebounds. eight assist night.
Irving and Lively scored 15 each, and Lively added 11 rebounds and six assists.
It wasn’t lost on Thompson that he was playing with Irving, who he battled against during numerous NBA Finals in those Warriors-Cavaliers tournaments, and Spurs forward Harrison Barnes is someone he won a title with during that first career with the Warriors.
It shows that nothing lasts forever and the only consistency is change, so being flexible is the best attribute. It’s not that last season in Golden State didn’t leave its mark, or that this year will be smooth sailing.
It just means that things are different.
“It makes you feel grateful to be in the NBA,” Thompson said. “You look around and see those guys you came in with still playing at a high level, especially playing like Chris Paul (is). I mean now, talking to CP, I’m like, ‘Man, I used to chase you for 40 minutes.’ “I used to hate his guts, now we’re good friends.”
Thompson will be playing against another good friend, Kevin Durant, with the Phoenix Suns, in a couple of days after a great first night with many more tests on the horizon.