Victor Wembanyama scored 23 points as the visiting San Antonio Spurs earned their first win of the season Saturday by defeating the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 122-106 in the second of a back-to-back for both teams.
The Mavericks played without stars Cooper Flagg (shoulder) and Kyrie Irving, who was held out for left knee injury management. Flagg sprained his left shoulder in a win at Indiana on Friday and will be reevaluated next week.
The Spurs led 77-63 four minutes into the third quarter but the Mavs cut their deficit to three heading to the final period. San Antonio opened the fourth quarter with a 11-3 run that produced a 103-92 edge at the 9:05 mark. From there, it was all Spurs. San Antonio led by 23 down the stretch as the Mavericks ran out of gas.
Dylan Harper added 22 points, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle scored 19 each, Julian Champagnie hit for 12 off the bench and Devin Vassell tallied 11 points for San Antonio, which shot 47.5% from the field. Wembanyama also posted seven rebounds and four blocks.
Rookie Sergio De Larrea’s 21 points led Dallas. Marcus Sasser, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford scored 12 apiece, Zaccharie Risacher had 11 and Naji Marshall contributed 10 as the Mavericks shot 51.1% from the field.
Washington’s dunk after a Risacher steal with 38 seconds left in the first quarter put Dallas ahead by one. The Spurs’ Carter Bryant answered with a dunk to grant San Antonio a 32-31 lead after 12 minutes of play.
The Mavericks went up by six after a mid-second-quarter surge capped by Sasser’s pullup jumper with 5:23 to play. San Antonio swung back, forging a 14-3 run punctuated by Keldon Johnson’s tip-in layup at the 2:08 mark for a 59-54 advantage.
San Antonio led 68-60 at the break behind Fox’s 15 points, 12 from Wembanyama and 11 by Castle. De Larrea paced the Mavericks with 13 points off the bench, with Washington and Marshall adding 10 each.
The Spurs expanded their lead to 14 early in the third before Dallas roared back, scoring 22 of the ensuing 29 points and regaining the lead at 85-84. The game went to the fourth quarter with San Antonio up 92-89 as Castle and Wembanyama hit late threes.
