SAN ANTONIO – They came from near and far on Wednesday night to watch the newest rookie phenom – VictorLuka Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs – make his NBA debut. The Mavericks were at the Frost Bank Center, too, and boy did they have a great time spoiling the Spurs’ party.

Luka Doncic collected a triple-double, Kyrie Irving poured in 22 points, and rookie Dereck Lively II looked like a polished veteran as the Mavs rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half to open the regular season with a shiny 126-119 triumph over the Spurs.

It was a night when the world and a national (ESPN) television audience came to witness Wembanyama take his first NBA steps. But while he showed small flashes of brilliance, Wembanyama was saddled with fouls and finished the game with 15 points and five rebounds in only 23 minutes.

Meanwhile, Doncic was, well, his spectacular self as he put on an amazing performance, finishing with 33 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Then again, it’s games like this – when the spotlight is squarely shining on someone on the other team – when Doncic takes his game to multi-levels that aren’t very good for the opponents.

“We knew the whole building was going to be loud,” Doncic said. (Wembanyama is) probably one of the best prospects that’s been to the NBA, so it was fun.

Lively“For me personally, I like challenges. So, that was a fun challenge.”

The challenge got deeper for the Mavs when Wembanyama perfected a dunk and Tre Jones followed with a pair of free throws to put the Spurs ahead 117-115 with 2:34 left.

From there, Doncic and Irving showed off their All-Star pedigree as – sparked by their dynamic backcourt — the Mavs finished the game on a dominant 11-2 run.

Doncic started the winning rally with a three-point play, then fed Irving for a three-pointer. Doncic followed by stripping the ball from Jeremy Sochan and negotiating a nifty pass up the court to Irving, who finished with a fastbreak layup for a 123-119 lead.

Lively then hit the floor for a steal, and followed that up with an offensive rebound, which Doncic turned into a three-pointer that sent the fans streaming to the exits.

“We really have taken a lot of time this preseason to work on late-game execution,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought offensively and defensively we executed during the last three minutes by getting stops, and on offense being able to play through Luka and Kai.

“I thought we got some great looks, some wide open looks that wouldn’t go down, but we didn’t panic or we didn’t forceKyrie anything. We just stayed the course and we trusted one another.”

After the Mavs gave up a whopping 43 points in the first quarter, that trust on the defensive end of the floor was very evident the rest of the game as they played lock-down defense and wrecked Wembanyama’s debut.

“You try your best to study the film before you play him, understand what he likes and wants to do,” said Grant Williams, who finished with 17 points and six rebounds and often found himself guarding the 7-3 Frenchman. “For me it was a matter of being physical and making sure he doesn’t get to his spots, making sure the shots that he takes you challenge them.”

Lively also accepted the challenge as his NBA debut gave the Mavs something to look forward to down the road in their quest to improve defensively inside the paint. The Duke product finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and converted 7-of-8 shots from the field.

“I just went out there and tried to take it play by play,” Lively said. “If I get a bucket, that’s what I’m happy about. If I get someone else a bucket, I’m even happier.

“All I wanted to do is make sure the score goes up and make sure we come out with a win.”

LivelyLively was especially live on one play late in the fourth quarter when he flew through the lane, grabbed an offensive rebound and jammed it through the basket while sending a jolt through the arena.

“I feel like I was trusting my shooter from the corner, but as soon as I saw the ball and it didn’t look like it was going in, I knew nobody was in my way,” Lively said. “So, I was going to go get it no matter where it was.

“I was just lucky the ball came to me and it was my job to flush it and get back on defense.”

Lively didn’t start the game at center – Maxi Kleber did. However, he did start the second half. Kidd said the reason he didn’t start Lively is because: “I didn’t want Lively to get in foul trouble. I was trying to protect Dereck that way because we knew we needed him.

“I thought Dereck was great tonight. I thought being able to bring him off the bench tonight and then being able to start himGrant in the second half was something that we had talked about doing, and he was good on both ends. The Spurs’ rookie was pretty good, too.”

Lively was even catching pick-and-roll passes from Doncic and slamming them through the basket as if they’ve been doing this for years.

“I feel like we’ve been building chemistry and been building trust with each other, and we’ve been improving,” Lively said. “I feel like each day I learn a little more about his game and I learn a little more about his pace and I try to match it and I try to make his job easier.”

If Wednesday was any indication, consider the learning process by Lively a smashing success.

“It’s not easy playing with Luka, because Luka is going to throw it and he expects you to catch it and finish,” Kidd said. “And he had some Lukagreat lobs tonight. A lot of good things from our rookie tonight.”

With 15 of his 17 points coming in the first half, Tim Hardaway Jr. helped keep the Mavs within shouting distance of the Spurs, who led, 68-64, at the midway point. Josh Green also came off the bench and contributed 11 points.

“The first quarter we were a little sloppy, and the second, third and fourth quarters we played better,” Doncic said. “I think, especially the fourth, it was a lot of full energy and we were locked in.”

The Mavs will now play their home opener Friday against Brooklyn after opening the season with a win. A win thanks in large part to a rookie (Lively) who was not a part of the national hype to this game.

“It was (Lively’s) first NBA official game and he was pretty amazing,” Doncic said. “I remember my first game (in 2018) I was pretty nervous, but he didn’t look like it. So, he’s going to be even better.

“Every day in practice, he does this. He’s a great kid and he’s working hard.”

X: @DwainPrice

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