SAN ANTONIO — The Dallas Mavericks spoiled the San Antonio Spurs home season-opener as well as the start of the Victor Wembanyama era by handing the Spurs a 126-119 loss.
A look at the stat sheet will sum up plenty that went wrong for the Spurs.
Wembanyama was saddled with foul trouble (5 total) throughout the game. The Mavs' dynamic duo showed why they are two of the best in the league. Luka Doncic had 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists and Kyrie Irving had 22 points.
San Antonio got outscored in periods 2-4 and gave up 13 offensive rebounds to Dallas and 12 turnovers in the second half didn't help their cause.
But it was not a total loss.
In fact, guard Tre Jones saw positives in the loss especially how the team started the opening frame.
"The start that we had. That group brought it to start off," Jones said.
The Spurs opened the game by outscoring the Mavericks 43-36. The team was also firing from the field shooting 6-for-12 on 3-pointers and 62% from the field.
San Antonio also put up 43 points after the first period and got the packed Frost Bank Center roaring.
The starting lineup of Jeremy Sochan, Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Zach Collins gave Dallas all they could handle.
That unit dished out 11 assists, recorded three steals, and went on a 16-7 and a 14-5 run on Dallas to build the early lead in the first quarter.
"That group came out hot to start off with and played amazing to get us going," he said.
The game was close throughout the night but that should not have come as a surprise.
Twenty of the last 28 matchups between the Spurs and Mavericks have been decided by single digits.
That was evident during Wednesday's game as the teams exchanged leads 15 times and the Spurs were able to crawl out of deficits.
San Antonio went on a 7-0 run in the third period to take an 87-83 lead. When Dallas took back the lead, San Antonio went on a 6-0 run in the fourth to tie the game at 100 and a 5-0 late in the game to take a slim 113-112 lead.
"There are moments throughout the game where we were not playing well and clawed back," Jones said. "We continued to stick with it and got the momentum back on our side and were able to get that lead back or push that lead a little bit more."
The nip-and-tuck game had the Frost Bank Center crowd cheering loudly. The fan energy was palpable and helped feed the Spurs to open the game.
Another positive Jones took away from the game.
"The energy in the building was amazing," he said. "Our fans brought it as well."
Jones finished with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds, one turnover, and went 5-for-7 from the field in 25 minutes in the loss.
Up next will be a visit by the Houston Rockets where the Spurs will get another game to correct things on the court and get the first win of the season.
The loss to the Mavericks served as a reminder the team is not fully polished but the positives coming out of it will serve as building pieces moving forward for Jones and the team.
"Those are definitely positives we had throughout the night and there's more that we can learn from," he said.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5
