Wembanyama and Harper finally get Spurs going with win in Dallas
San Antonio beat Dallas 122–106 on 24 October. Wembanyama and Harper carried the Spurs, who made the difference in the final quarter to claim their first win.
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San Antonio have their first win of the season. The Spurs beat Dallas 122–106 on Saturday, 24 October at the American Airlines Center, pulling clear in the final quarter. Victor Wembanyama finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and Dylan Harper with 22 points. Both teams now stand at one win and two defeats.
Dallas hold firm despite absences
Without Cooper Flagg or Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks kept their Texas neighbours from pulling away for a long time. The first quarter ended with San Antonio one point ahead, 32–31. The Spurs then won the second period 36–29 to lead at the break, 68–60.
Wembanyama had started slowly, though: he had just one point until the middle of the second quarter. Two baskets off passes close to the rim helped get him going, and he reached half-time with 12 points. His side were finding more answers, without having put the game to bed.
De Larrea drags the Mavericks back into it
Young Sergio de Larrea gave Dallas an offensive spark off the bench. He finished as the Mavericks' top scorer with 21 points, including three three-pointers from four attempts, along with five rebounds and four assists. His energy kept the hosts in touch while their starters combined for 50 points.
Dallas won the third quarter 29–24 and cut their deficit to three points, 92–89, heading into the final period. The Mavericks had even briefly retaken the lead in that quarter, at 85–84. San Antonio therefore still needed a solid run to turn their favourable position into a first win.
Spurs lock down the fourth quarter
That run came right at the start of the final act. San Antonio went on a 17–5 burst in the first six minutes of the period, before winning it 30–17. The final margin settled at sixteen points.
Alongside Wembanyama and Harper, De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle each added 19 points. Fox also dished out nine assists, Castle eight. The Spurs finished with 34 assists to Dallas's 29, and held their turnovers to twelve. The Mavericks gave the ball away twenty-one times in all, including three team turnovers.
Offensive rebounding also extended San Antonio's possessions: fifteen to Dallas's eight. The Spurs scored 25 second-chance points, against ten for the Mavericks. That ability to recover after a missed shot counted in a game where the hosts had found answers for a long time.
Dallas's bench produced 56 points, led by De Larrea and the 12 points of Marcus Sasser. Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington added 12 points each, Zaccharie Risacher 11. But San Antonio leave with the result they had been missing after their defeats to Oklahoma City and Houston: a first win, built by finishing better than their opponents.