Author: NBA Basketball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

One Possession: Robinson turns on the jets in key moment vs. Bucks originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

A lot of ink has been spilled over Mitchell Robinson’s slow start in green, but there was one sequence on Wednesday night — before the Celtics fumbled away their big lead and clawed their way to the finish line of a win over a spunky Milwaukee team — that suggested Robinson is going to be just fine.

Robinson’s defense deterring a Kyle Kuzma drive led to a Derrick White steal and play broke out the other way. Robinson was 88 feet from the basket at that moment but absolutely turned on the jets while beating most of the Bucks down the floor.

Robinson wasn’t immediately rewarded, but the hustle left him in prime position to attack. Robinson absolutely bulldozed Milwaukee’s Kasparas Jakučionis, using his backside to relocate the 6-foot-5 guard from the charge circle all the way to the free throw line before White delivered the entry pass for an easy layup.

It was Robinson’s only bucket on a night when he simply couldn’t get a second-chance attempt to fall. But the box score lies. Robinson might have finished 1-of-8 shooting with only three points, but his 10 rebounds (six on the offensive glass) and that one sprinting sequence emphasized how he can generate easy points for Boston when he stays in overdrive.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla spent much of his pregame press conference pushing back on some of the rumbles that Robinson had been a disappointment to start his Boston tenure. Mazzulla reasoned that Robinson could still impact winning while settling into a different role, one that might be requiring him to expend even more energy than he did coming off the bench last season for the world champion Knicks.

The on/off splits certainly haven’t made a strong case for Robinson’s impact. The Celtics have been outscored by 12.7 points per 100 possessions during his 135 minutes of floor time but dominated opponents by 16.9 points per 100 possessions in his 254 minutes on the bench. That’s a minus-29.6 differential, far and away the worst differential on the team.

And while Mazzulla did his best to pump up Robinson, the coach has also hinted at a need for Robinson to improve his stamina on the court, including playing harder and faster at times.

Then Robinson turned on the jets for that one second-quarter bucket against the Bucks.

Milwaukee called timeout in the immediate aftermath and, much like last week with Payton Pritchard, it felt like Mazzulla might dole out another unexpected hug. Instead, Mazzulla just smiled as he walked to meet Robinson as he came off the court.

The insinuation was clear: More of that.

Boston players certainly need more time to figure out how to maximize lobs to Robinson on his rolls to the basket — they’re airmailed more than a few — but there’s a lot more room for error when Robinson is using his massive frame to take advantage of mismatches in the post.

That one sequence offered a road map to the sort of play that can settle a scuttling offense down in a hurry.

Robinson played only eight minutes in the second half against Milwaukee, and it was center Neemias Queta whose energy at the center position helped the Celtics get to the finish line of the win. But everyone in the Boston locker room knows that Robinson is still getting comfortable in a new situation.

“Here, we actually need him to do a little bit more and want him to do a little bit more [than in New York] and kind of explore that,” Paul George told reporters after Wednesday’s win. “I think he’s just going through that — a different playstyle for him. He’ll get there … I have no doubt. He’s got a high IQ. He plays hard. I think it’s just an adjustment.”

Robinson is actually generating more offensive rebound chances per game (5.7) in Boston compared to last season with New York (5.4). The difference? Robinson is grabbing 37.5 percent of his own misses this year, an elite number that ranks in the 98th percentile among all centers. But he’s 1) Struggled to convert those chances into points early in the season while missing a variety of close looks, and 2) He’s grabbing just 10.5 percent of his teammates misses, way down from the 21.1 percent mark that led the entire league last season.

The Celtics have to hope that, as he settles in, some of those natural talents take over. And much of the angst about Robinson’s slow start might dissipate.

One high-energy sprint on Wednesday night offered a road map to success.

Victor Wembanyama sank the winning free throw to finish with a career-high 52 points as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-111 on Wednesday.

The French star, whose previous best was 50 points in 2024, dominated at both ends of the court to also claim 24 rebounds and eight blocks.

The 22-year-old is the first player in 52 years with at least 50 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a game.

He also became the fifth player since 1982 to register at least 50 points and 20 rebounds as San Antonio improved their record to 6-2.

Wembanyama reached half-time with 29 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks and two steals, before the Spurs held off a second-half rally by Dallas, who were led by 29 points from Kyrie Irving.

"I haven't been feeling great lately," said Wembanyama. "I've been sick for a while.

"Today I felt like I got my legs back, so it should be more like this more often."

James plays down Finals talk

Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-106 win over the Detroit Pistons in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference clash.

Brown (30 points) and Embiid (26) led a balanced offensive performance as Philadelphia saw all five starters reach double figures, with LeBron James claiming a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The 76ers now have the NBA's best record at 8-1 after bringing in Brown and James in the off-season.

"It's too early to be talking about the Finals and things of that nature," said James. "We'll just continue to buy into what we want to do. We got a good team."

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 116-103 with Luka Doncic scoring a game-high 40 points to reach 308 for the season.

The Slovenian star became the first player to pass 300 in his first eight games of a season since Michael Jordan (303) in 1988-89.

Doncic was also involved in an incident which led to a fan being removed after throwing the ball at an official, which struck her as she was signalling a Lakers possession.

Meanwhile, London-born OG Anunoby scored 18 points for the New York Knicks as the reigning champions enjoyed their biggest win of the season, beating the Chicago Bulls 135-105 to improve to 4-4.

• NBA scores & fixtures
• Boos to cheers - James records biggest career comeback win

For as good as Luka Dončić has been to start this season, it hasn’t really felt like he’s been carrying the Lakers along. He’s been great on top of other players being good as well, leading more often than not to wins.

However, on Wednes…

[whistle]

Damn. I was just called for a foul. Fitting for that game.

Anyway, Wednesday was the exception. The Lakers were mostly lethargic and flat to open the game, Luka included. Then, he exploded in the second quarter and really pulled the Lakers along. Austin Reaves was great alongside him as well, but the teams had little else.

At least they were solid enough defensively to make up for that. And they were playing Kings.

So, let’s dive into the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

Matisse Thybulle

23 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1-5 FG, 1-5 3PT, -4

A quiet game offensively from Thybulle. He was overdue for one, so nothing to really worry about.

Grade: C

Jake LaRavia

20 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 fouls, 1 turnover, 3-3 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1-2 FT, +3

When he wasn’t fouling, LaRavia was one of the best Lakers on the floor. Unfortunately, he was fouling a lot in the first half, which forced him to the bench. But he was foul free in the second half and his impact was felt.

Grade: B+

Walker Kessler

28 minutes, 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 blocks, 6 fouls, 6-8 FG, 3-4 FT, -1

By his own admission, Kessler wasn’t very good for the first three quarters. Domantas Sabonis had 10 points and 14 rebounds to Kessler’s five points and three rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, that completely flipped. Kessler had 10 points, five rebounds and four blocks and Sabonis only had six points and three rebounds.

Grade: B+

Austin Reaves

37 minutes, 21 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 7-15 FG, 1-4 3PT, 6-6 FT, +14

This is a quiet great game from Reaves, who is willing and able to take that Robin role to Luka’s Batman. The most impressive part of his game though isn’t listed in that box score…because he had zero turnovers!

Grade: A

Luka Dončić

35 minutes, 40 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 foul, 6 turnovers, 11-23 FG, 6-13 3PT, 12-13 FT, +11

The level of shotmaking from Luka right now is up there with the best the league has ever seen. Some of these shots are just unfathomable and, yet, when they go up, you always believe they’ll go in.

Grade: A+

Quentin Grimes

24 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul, 1 turnover, 2-5 FG, 0-3 3PT, 2-2 FT, +19

A bit of a step back for Grimes after an encouraging game against the Heat. Considering how much the Lakers paid him, it’d be nice if he found his groove soon.

Grade: C

Sandro Mamukelashvili

18 minutes, 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 foul, 1 turnover, 0-4 FG, 0-3 3PT, 2-2 FT, +17

This was a pretty poor Mamu game. Missing back-to-back threes from the top of the key early in the game turned out to be an omen.

Grade: D

Ziaire Williams

22 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 4 fouls, 3-7 FG, 1-4 3PT, 3-3 FT, +12

The good news for the Lakers is that when a wing has a poor game as Thybulle did or LaRavia is in foul trouble, they have another one to step in and play well, which Ziaire did.

Grade: B+

Collin Sexton

16 minutes, 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 4 fouls, 2 turnovers, 2-7 FG, 1-3 3PT, 5-6 FT, +2

Another sort of deceptive game as it looks like Sexton was good but it didn’t feel that way while watching. Perhaps I’m in the minority because that’s a good stat line.

Grade: B-

Jarred Vanderbilt, Cameron Carr, Jaden Hardy, Bronny James, Lawson Lovering, Kevon Looney

Everyone but Vando played only in garbage time. Again, Vando was in for only one shift in the first half and the team was outrebounded 8-5, gave up three offensive boards and Vando committed two fouls, albeit on a bizarre possession with like four fouls called.

JJ Redick

As he always does, Redick is rounding this team into form defensively. It’s still a work in progress and this was just the Kings, but you can see this team improving on that end of the floor and, minus the rebounding, this was a good showing.

Grade: B+

Wednesday’s inactives:Chris Mañon, Adou Thiero, Arthur Kaluma

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

The San Antonio Spurs concluded their homestand in thrilling fashion on Wednesday night, holding off a furious second half rally by the Dallas Mavericks to earn the 112-111 victory at the Frost Bank Center behind a historic and career night from Victor Wembanyama.

The victory is the sixth straight for San Antonio, who defeated Dallas for the second time this season.

Wembanyama was fired up from pre-game introductions, pumping his team up as he went through the high-five line. From the opening tip, he was aggressive inside the paint and getting to the free throw line. He scored eight of the Spurs’ first 10 points and would finish the first quarter with 15 points.

The second quarter saw both teams go on a pair of runs. With the Spurs leading 48-39, Mavericks coach Dusty May called timeout and following that, Dallas went on a 7-0 run to cut San Antonio’s nine point lead down to two points. Meanwhile, later in the period, the Spurs would close the second quarter on 19-3 run to take the 68-51 advantage into the second half.

Wembanyama finished the first half with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks. The one area where Wemby struggled? His three-point shooting, just going 1-for-8 on the night.

“I can still do more,” Wembanyama said after the game. “I mean, my shots weren’t falling tonight and that forces me into a style of play that is exhausting. I can do it. The proof is here. I can do it, but I can be much better if my shots fell.”

Both teams had a slow start to the second half, but it was Dallas that looked like a team that got a grilling at the break. The Mavericks were much more aggressive to begin the third quarter, led by Kyrie Irving and Naji Marshall. At one point, Julian Champagnie left Marshall open for a corner three. That left Spurs coach Mitch Johnson furious as he called timeout and let his team know just how frustrated he was with their effort.

The Spurs responded out of the timeout by building the lead back to 13 points, but Dallas would win the third quarter 27-22 and that set up a thrilling finish in the final 12 minutes. The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter by outscoring San Antonio 12-4, all but erasing their 19-point deficit. The final 8:45 saw both teams go back and forth exchanging the lead, but this Wembanyama would not allow the Spurs to lose on this night.

San Antonio got their star the ball at every chance down the court over the final three minutes. He had two putbacks in the final 2:39, but went just 1-for-4 from the free throw line, causing anxiety for many inside the arena. With the Spurs clinging to the 112-111 lead, Dallas had one final chance. Irving missed a contested 15-foot, turnaround jumper with three seconds remaining thanks to some great defense from De’Aaron Fox and the Spurs held on.

Wemby finished with career highs of 52 points and 24 rebounds along with eight blocks.

“I think he’s settled into the season like we all have,” Coach Johnson said of his star player after the game. “We’re almost 10 games in. It takes a minute to get in that flow, we had to just got to a good spot in terms of team [needing] to get where their feet were. Team has potential. We’re starting to play the brand of basketball we should.”

Dallas was led by Irving’s 29 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Marshall added 22, while PJ Washington chipped in 21 and Cooper Flagg added 19 points for the Mavericks, who fell to 4-4 on the season.

Dylan Harper, who finished with 21 points, said postgame that he looked up to Irving growing up and to play against him is incredible, but beating him meant more.

“It was good to get the win over him today for sure,” he said after the game.

Game Notes

• In addition to Wemby’s career highs, the victory for the Spurs was also the 100th in Coach Mitch Johnson’s career. According to Spurs socials, Wemby presented Johnson with the game ball in the locker room after the game.
• Devin Vassell and Champagnie went a combined 0-for-14 on the night. Coach Johnson said after the game he doesn’t believe we’ll see a game where that happens again this season.
• San Antonio’s bench struggled on the night, scoring just 10 points compared to 38 points from Dallas’ second unit.
• The Spurs were ice cold (no pun intended on throwback night) from beyond the arc, shooting just 13 percent and going 5-for-36. That will and should change as the season goes on.

Luka Dončić had his fifth 40-point performance in his last six games, finishing with 40 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and one steal in the Lakers’ 116-103 win over the Kings on Wednesday in Sacramento.

Color Austin Reaves not impressed.

“He could’ve had 60 if he weren’t asleep in the first quarter,” Reaves joked of Dončić, who had a game-high 10 points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first 12 minutes. “That’s all I got to say about him.”

Dončić and Reaves are good friends and the highest-scoring duo in the NBA, as the California Post recently detailed in an exclusive story.

Dončić is leading the league in scoring with 38.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and eight assists per game.

Reaves, who had 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting on Wednesday, indirectly gushed about his superstar teammate, who has been earning a lot of early MVP buzz as he has lifted the Lakers to a 7-2 record.

“He’s scored 70 in a game,” Reaves said, referring to when Doncic exploded for 73 points when he was with the Mavericks in January 2024. “He’s a good basketball player. I don’t know. He’s been doing this since he was 20 years old, 19, I don’t know. He’s a good player.”

Klay Thompson made the winning three-pointer with a second left in overtime and the Miami Heat rallied past the reeling Clippers 117-116 on Wednesday night.

Bam Adebayo set season highs with 35 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who have won three of four after losing their first four games. Thompson scored 30, going eight of 17 from three-point range, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points, 14 boards and six assists.

Miami trailed by 20 in the second quarter and was still down 10 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the fourth before a 9-0 spurt set up the tight finish.

Darius Garland had 26 points and seven assists to pace the Clippers, who have lost seven games in a row since winning their season opener Oct. 21 against Sacramento.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Luka Dončić has scored 308 points through his first eight games of the season, the most points since Wilt Chamberlain’s 418 points in 1962-63, the season in which he averaged 44.8 points.

Dončić had 40 points (11-for-23 from the field, 6-for-13 from beyond the arc), nine rebounds, seven assists and one steal in the Lakers’ 116-103 win over the Kings on Wednesday.

It was Dončić’s fifth 40-point performance in the last six games.

Dončić is leading the league in scoring with 38.5 points per game for the Lakers, who are second place in the Western Conference with a record of 7-2.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked Wednesday if this was the hottest stretch he’s ever seen from Dončić.

“Probably this and the entire month of March of last year,” said Redick, referring to when Dončićaveraged 37.5 points, eight rebounds and 7.4 assists last March to lead the Lakers to a 15-2 record before he suffered a torn hamstring April 2 that sidelined him for the entire postseason.

Dončić, who has never finished in the top two in MVP voting, is putting up an early MVP campaign.

The Dallas Mavericks (4-4) fell to the San Antonio Spurs (6-2), 112-111, in a nationally televised matchup on the road on Wednesday. The two squads met for the second time, and it came after the Mavericks’ 115-100 blunder against the Sacramento Kings on Monday. The matchup went down to the wire after the Mavericks were able to turn around a 19-point deficit.

Santi Aldama, Tarik Biberovic, Max Christie, Sergio de Larrea, and Dereck Lively were out for the Mavericks. Tobias Harris was out for the Spurs.

Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 29 points in the loss. PJ Washington added 21 points and 10 rebounds. Victor Wembanyama had an otherworldly 52 points, 24 rebounds, eight blocks, and two steals.

Here are three numbers to know from Wednesday night’s clutch loss.

43: Combined scoring from PJ Washington and Naji Marshall

PJ Washington and Naji Marshall left their mark on the game, finishing with a combined 43 points. Washington finished with 21 points and added 10 rebounds, including four offensive boards. He has been the Mavericks’ best rebounder through the start of the season and was a boost to the Mavericks on the glass despite the team losing the rebounding battle to the Spurs.

Marshall contributed 22 points, with 17 of them coming in the second half as the Mavericks closed the gap on their 19-point deficit to the Spurs. It was a bounce-back game for him after a performance to forget in Monday night’s loss, after returning from an illness. The Mavericks needed role players to step up as Cooper Flagg struggled early, and the forward pairing was able to answer the call to keep the Mavericks competitive despite the loss.

29: Kyrie Irving points

Kyrie Irving finished with 29 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. 17 of his points came in the first half, keeping the Mavericks within reach of the game when Cooper Flagg struggled early. The Mavericks rested Irving Monday night due to knee injury management to have him ready for the matchup with San Antonio, and his early scoring was key to the Mavericks staying within reach of the game. Though his shots didn’t fall late, Kyrie Irving is critical to the Mavericks’ offense, allowing them to compete with some of the league’s best on any given night.

1-of-11: Cooper Flagg first half shooting

Cooper Flagg’s Monday night struggles flowed into Wednesday night’s performance. He started the game 1-of-11 in the first half, with a questionable shot diet that only worsened his offensive struggles early. He came into the second half looking like the Cooper Flagg we know and love, and finished the second half six-of-eight. The Mavericks need Flagg to continue to play with the aggression he showed in the second half. His ability to shake off his early performance proves that he has the ability to be a star in the league. When Flagg got going, the Mavericks were able to dig themselves out of the hole they were in and have a fighting chance.

Up next

The Mavericks return home to host the Utah Jazz on Friday night as NBA Cup Group Play continues. Catch the action at 7 p.m. CT on KFAA and MavsTV.

SACRAMENTO — It didn’t come via the hot start from Luka Dončić that’s become customary to start the season.

But the Slovenian superstar continued his dominant run to open 2026-27 Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center, recording his third straight 40-point game in the Lakers’ 116-103 win over the Kings.

Dončić finished with 40 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, propelling the 7-2 Lakers to another victory.

As coach JJ Redick mentioned earlier in the week, the offensive rhythm superstar guard continues to be loud. 

Almost as loud as the cowbells ringing throughout the Kings home arena. 

Dončić’s prolific scoring wasn’t as efficient as the standard he set for himself to start the season. 

He shot 11 of 23 from the field and 6 of 13 on 3-pointers (12 of 13 on free throws).

But he made the most noise when he scored 11 straight points, including three straight 3s, late in the second quarter to put the Lakers up 57-48 with just over 2 ½ minutes left in the half. 

The Lakers led for the remainder of the game after the team’s exchanged leads a few times in the first half.

With his performance against the Kings, Dončić became the first player in NBA history to record six consecutive games with 35-plus points, five-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and five-plus 3-pointers.

Austin Reaves added 21 points and four assists. Walker Kessler recorded 15 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals, while Ziaire Williams and Collin Sexton each scored 10 points off the bench.

On a night when Lakers coach JJ Redick said his team was “a little flat,” Luka Doncic flattened yet another opponent.

Even Doncic started slow compared to his usual first-quarter exploits, but he picked up his pace as the game progressed, dropping 40 points on the woeful Sacramento Kings to lead the Lakers to a 116-103 win Wednesday night at Golden1 Center.

Doncic has scored 40-plus points in three straight games and in five of his last six.

So, after he went 11-for-23 from the field and six-for-13 from three-point range and after he also notched nine rebounds and seven assists, Doncic was asked if he’s ever had a better offensive stretch over his eight-year NBA career.

Read more:Fun, flowing, not yet flawless: Lakers' league-best offense still has room to improve

“Maybe. I don’t know,” he said. “I had some good stretches in my career. But obviously this could be one of the highest ones. But there’s still some work to do.”

Doncic had 10 points in the first quarter, a slow start for him considering he averages 15 points per game in the first 12 minutes. He had 13 in the second, 12 in the third and five in the fourth.

He even made a 360-degree three-pointer in the third.

“He’s playing great right now and he’s doing a great job,” Redick said. “We talked about this after the game or before the game, but he’s doing a great job just playing off the ball. We’re trying to set off-ball screens for him. Other guys are handling (the ball). So, I think some of that workload from bringing the ball up against pressure every single possession. Like it’s just not there right now, and that’s very intentional on our part.”

In the middle of all of this, Doncic is making history.

He became the first player in NBA history to record six consecutive games with 35-plus points, five-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and three-plus three-pointers.

The season is just two weeks old and Doncic is dominating in ways not seen very often.

When asked if he was in mid-season form, Doncic shrugged.

“I don’t know, honestly,” he said. “Too early to tell, you know,” Doncic said. “But as I go back, I had the whole summer to recover. A lot of stuff that I couldn’t do in the last maybe eight years. So that’s where the energy is coming from.”

Walker Kessler had a strong game with 15 points on six-for-eight shooting, eight rebounds and three blocks to aid Doncic.

Read more:Lakers newsletter: Luka Doncic's scoring reaches new universe

Austin Reaves had 21 points to help Doncic out against a Kings team that is tied with four other teams with the worst record in the league at 1-7.

They give up 124.3 points per game, the second-most in the league and teams shoot 50.5% against them, a league-high.

So, the high-scoring Lakers just had to play to their usual effort.

They began the game second in scoring (122.5) in the league and first in field-goal percentage (52%).

But the first half was a choppy affair because of all the fouls being called.

Each team was called for 12 fouls in the first half. The Lakers were called for nine fouls in the second quarter and the Kings were called for eight.

Jake LaRavia picked up his fourth foul with eight minutes and two seconds left in the second quarter.

The Lakers had committed enough fouls to put the Kings in the penalty with 9:24 left in the second quarter.

That was the kind of first half the Lakers had to endure.

But when Doncic got going in the second quarter, the Lakers played a little better.

He scored 13 of their final 15 points in the second quarter and finished the first half with 23 points.

Still, Doncic took the blame for the Lakers’ lackadaisical start.

“Yeah, that was on me. I came out little sloppy. I take responsibility for that,” Doncic said. “I know that my first quarter wasn’t good. So I just came back in the game trying to be more aggressive, be more focused.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dallas Mavericks (4-4) nearly pulled off a ridiculous comeback Wednesday night, but fell 112-111 to the San Antonio Spurs (6-2) after a strange final possession. Victor Wembanyama completely dominated the game, finishing with 52 points, 24 rebounds, and eight blocks while controlling everything Dallas tried to do around the rim. Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 29 points, while Cooper Flagg recovered from a brutal first half to finish with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Naji Marshall was huge off the bench with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, helping Flagg lead a second-half comeback that gave Dallas a chance to win on the final possession.

The Mavericks had a rough opening quarter in San Antonio, mostly because Victor Wembanyama looked completely in control while Dallas’ two best players could not get anything going. Wembanyama had 15 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks in just over eight minutes, while Cooper Flagg missed all seven of his shots and Kyrie Irving started 2-of-8. Morez Johnson Jr. gave Dallas some good energy off the bench, but the Mavericks shot just 31 percent and struggled to finish anything around the rim. San Antonio led 32-26 after one.

The second quarter made the matchup look even worse. Wembanyama completely erased the paint, forcing hesitations, kick-outs, and bad attempts while blocking Flagg, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford in the same stretch. By halftime, he already had 29 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks. Flagg was just 1-of-11 with four points and no assists; Kyrie had 17, and San Antonio dominated the glass 44-31 with 15 offensive rebounds. Dallas trailed 68-51 and looked completely overmatched.

The Mavericks finally showed some life in the third. They won the non-Wembanyama minutes, Flagg started to look more aggressive, and the small-ball approach gave San Antonio more problems. Kyrie helped push the comeback, Walter Clayton Jr. hit another three, and Dallas won the quarter 29-22 to cut the deficit to 90-80. Wembanyama was still everywhere and finished with 40 points, but Dallas had at least made the game competitive again.

The fourth quarter was easily Dallas’ best stretch. Naji Marshall and Flagg led the comeback, with Marshall hitting huge shots and Flagg finally getting downhill and creating offense. Dallas sped the game up, went small, and did about as good a job as possible neutralizing Wembanyama, though he still made several massive plays late. Marshall’s three with 1:41 left tied the game at 111, and after Wembanyama split a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left, Dallas had one final chance to win. The possession went nowhere, ending with a difficult Kyrie turnaround fadeaway with three seconds left, and the Mavericks fell 112-111.

A tale of two halves for Flagg

Cooper Flagg was awful in the first half, and aside from Victor Wembanyama completely taking over, he was probably the biggest reason Dallas got buried early. Flagg went just 1-of-11 before halftime, could not get to his spots, struggled badly against San Antonio’s length, and started passing up shots he normally takes. He also didn’t give Dallas enough defensively, which made the performance feel even worse. The second half was completely different. Flagg finally started attacking, got out in transition, made better reads, and became one of the main reasons Dallas even had a chance to win. He finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, and while the 7-of-19 shooting line still wasn’t pretty, most of the damage came after halftime. He and Naji Marshall led the comeback, and Flagg looked much more like the player Dallas needs him to be down the stretch. The first half was probably his worst stretch of the season, but the response mattered.

Final possession plan

Dallas had the ball down one with 24 seconds left and a chance to win the game, and the final possession was baffling. The Mavericks waited until roughly 10 seconds remained to really initiate anything, then basically just handed the ball to Kyrie Irving and asked him to make something happen. No screen, no dribble handoff, no action to force a switch, no attempt to get Flagg involved, just a Kyrie isolation that ended in a difficult turnaround fadeaway with three seconds left. It felt like one of those old Jason Kidd end-of-game possessions where the entire offense disappears, and the plan becomes “Kyrie, go save us.” That cannot be the best option. Kyrie is obviously one of the best isolation scorers in basketball, but when you have an entire timeout to draw something up, you have to make the defense work harder than that. Dusty May has been creative offensively in plenty of situations already, which made this even stranger. Dallas had a chance to steal a game after being down big, and the final possession did not give them nearly enough of a chance.

Wembanyama is ridiculous

There’s really no more complicated way to say it. Wembanyama was incredible.

He finished with 52 points, 24 rebounds, and eight blocks on 16-of-28 shooting, while also getting to the free-throw line 23 times. The numbers are absurd, but his impact on the game was even bigger. Dallas could not operate normally offensively because every paint touch became a problem. Drivers hesitated, bigs had shots erased, and the Mavericks were constantly forced into kick-outs or difficult attempts because Wembanyama was waiting around the rim.

Dallas did a much better job neutralizing him in the second half by playing smaller, speeding up the game, and making him defend in space, but he still found ways to dominate. He hit a huge three in the fourth, finished possessions on the glass, and scored the free throw that ultimately gave San Antonio the winning point. This was one of those games where you walk away understanding exactly why Wembanyama changes everything. Dallas nearly stole it anyway, but for most of the night, he completely dictated what the Mavericks were allowed to do.

Victor Wembanyama scored a career-high 52 points, and the San Antonio Spurs needed every single one of them in a close game against the rival Dallas Mavericks. Despite blowing a 19-point lead, the Spurs were able to hold on in the fourth quarter to win 112-11.

Wembanyama dominated the game in every aspect. He added 24 points and 8 blocks to his 52 points. In the end, it was his final free throw (after missing four straight previous free throws) that won San Antonio the game.

Shortly after that free throw, Kyrie Irving had a chance to win the game, but missed a mid-range jump shot while guarded heavily by De’Aaron Fox. Irving led the charge for the Mavericks, scoring 29 points on 9-for-27 shooting from the field. Dallas got a spark off the bench from Naji Marshall, who went off in the second half for 22 points.

The win extends the Spurs’ winning streak to 6 games. Next, they’ll head to Sacramento for a rematch with the Kings on Friday.

Observations

• The Spurs dominated the paint, outscoring the Mavs 62-40 in the paint and outrebounding Dallas 61-50. Both teams were hammering the offensive glass, as San Antonio grabbed 22 offensive boards, and Dallas had 18 offensive rebounds.
• San Antonio needed to dominate the paint because they had one of the worst shooting nights they’ve had in a while. The Spurs shot just 39% from the field and went 5-for-36 from three, hitting just 14% of their deep shots.
• There was a night-and-day difference when Wembanyama was on the court and when he was off it. He was +23 in the win, and Luke Kornet, the backup center, was -22 in his 14 minutes. That may be more indicative of how good Wembanyama was, but the team struggled mightily with the bench unit in the game.
• Fox should get a lot of credit for his defense in that final possession against Irving. He kept pace with one of the shiftiest guards in the league and got a great contest on his mid-range jump shot.
• It wasn’t Stephon Castle’s best shooting night, as he had 17 points on 6-of-20 shooting from the field. However, he responded late in the game, scoring back-to-back baskets when the Spurs needed them.
• Dylan Harper’s athleticism was on full display on his way to 21 points. He had some incredible finishes over and around the Mavericks’ defenders, including a huge alley-oop dunk in the first half.
• San Antonio’s offense has looked its best when it’s forcing switches in the pick-and-roll. When small guards get onto Wembanyama, the Spurs’ guards have gotten so good at finding him for lobs or easy post-up buckets. That was on full display against the Mavs.

10,000ft Overview

As soon as the game tipped off, one thing was very clear: This was a completely different level of basketball compared to Monday night’s game. Unique matchups (LaMelo Ball on Jabari Smith!), shot-making, and game plan discipline meant that the first half was full of back-and-forth, high-quality hoops.

Ayo Dosunmu was such a blue tsunami in transition that even Steve Kornaki had to pause what he was doing and just say, “Wow”.

Dosunmu went a perfect 6/6 at the rim on his way to twelve first-half points. On the other side of the floor, Jonathan Kuminga was fantastic on Amen Thompson, playing a brand of athletic and physical basketball that the Wolves haven’t been able to do before against Thompson.

The physicality was of note, as he did get a flagrant one after Sengun’s face invaded his personal space. Ultimately, it may have been worth it for the repeated over-the-top crowd reaction to the replay, which was genuinely funny.

And finally, the first half story wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Jaylen Clark, the certified stuff doer. He had two steals, two offensive rebounds, and a drawn offensive foul. Luckily for the Rockets, the Wolves decided they wanted to keep the game close by shooting free throws with their opposite hands, hitting on just 5/10 as the teams went into halftime tied.

The good basketball continued into the second half, though the third quarter did leave me with a pressing existential question like: “What exactly is a moving screen?” and “Why don’t defensive players just run into the screener and fall down every time?”

Outside of that Marcus Smart-inspired existential crisis, both teams essentially played each other even as they headed into the final quarter with the Rockets up two.

As you can see, the start of the fourth quarter was something!

LaMelo Ball committed three fouls in about 30 seconds and put the Rockets in the bonus. But then goes out and totally redeems himself with eight straight points, part of his twelve-point fourth-quarter effort. The back-and-forth affair continued until Jonathan Kuminga drained two huge threes, which, paired with dive-on-the-floor defense and excellent ball movement on offense, would be enough to push the Wolves over the top for the 117-107 victory in Houston.

Two Stats that defined the game:

1. 53%: Timberwolves Free Throw Precentage
   • Let’s just get this one out of the way. If the Wolves had lost this game, this would have been the lament in Timberwolves land. They went 10-for-19 from the line, and missing free throws has absolutely been an epidemic for this team. It didn’t cost them the game tonight, but they have way too many good shooters for these 1-2 trips to the line.
2. +14: Points Off Turnover Advantage for the Wolves
   • Hello defense! From the get-go, I loved the way the Wolves matched up with the Rockets by putting Ayo on Van Fleet, McDaniels on KD, Kuminga on Amen Thompson (more on this soon), and letting LaMelo guard Jabari Smith Jr, a matchup that would force them out of a lot of their offensive sets if they wanted to take advantage of it. This all led to eighteen turnovers for the Rockets and forced them into hitting a lot of tough shots all night.

Award Ceremony

The Big Ticket Award: LaMelo Ball

Just when we are all ready to be mad at you for three fouls in thirty seconds, you go out there and totally redeem yourself! LaMelo takes home this award for being fantastic in the fourth quarter. He had the perfect balance of finding his own shot, creating offense for others, and forcing Houston to bring double teams that he broke, and helped lead the Wolves to their first clutch-time victory of the season.

The seven turnovers are a reminder it wasn’t perfect, but his +15 team high with 20 points, six assists, and four – count ‘em, four – stocks show a player that filled the stat sheet and played winning basketball.

The Straight to Jail Award: Jonathan Kuminga

One of the most encouraging aspects of the first nine games of the season for the Wolves has been Jonathan Kuminga’s defense. It’s one of those things that, if it stays at this level, could be a difference maker come April. In past seasons, Amen Thompson’s elite athleticism has been a matchup issue for the Wolves, but Kuminga was all over him tonight, forcing a 3-for-9 night from the field with three turnovers and a team-worst -11.

Straight to jail for Amen Thompson tonight!

The And I Helped! Award: Ayo Dosunmo, Bones Hyland, Jaylen Clark

Too many good games tonight to not single out more than three players in the awards segment. If not for LaMelo’s big fourth quarter, the Big Ticket was Ayo’s. He was relentless in attacking downhill when he got the matchup he wanted, had a 6-0 AST/TO ratio, and was our main source of offense for most of the first half.

Bones Hyland is just a bucket. Scoring 19 points in just 16 minutes is a needed injection of life into an offense that is missing its high-volume scorer.

Already mentioned it earlier, but it deserves to be said again: Jaylen Clark is a certified stuff doer. He finishes the night with 10 points on 4/6 shooting (including two of three from deep!), three rebounds, two steals, and a drawn offensive foul. But the biggest sign of encouragement? He played 25 minutes!

Clearly, Chris Finch loved what he saw.

Empty the Notebook

• Rudy Gobert had one of his better defensive games against Sengun, but my goodness he needs to finish better. It is not a good sign that my confidence needle in his ability to finish a contested layup has moved into the tossup range with his ability to make a three
• Another solid outing from Joan Beringer! By my count, he’s now stacked four-to-give good performances in a row
• Trey Lyles is the last player hasn’t been mentioned, but he was also solid too! He’s becoming a very valuable role player that knows what he does best and stays in that zone.

Game Highlights

Up Next

The second game in the group play round of the NBA Cup! On Friday, November 6th, the Minnesota Timberwolves will travel to New Orleans to take on the Pelicans. The game tips off at 7:00 PM CT on DAZN-MIN and KARE 11.